Surgical pathology of cancer of the larynx and hypopharynx.

A study was designed to determine the influence of certain surgical pathologic findings on tumor spread and survival in patients with cancer of the larynx and hypopharynx. All patients with primary epidermoid carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx, treated by either surgery or preoperative irradiation and surgery, between 1955 and 1971 were included in the study. The patient population consisted of 791 patients all of whom were eligible for three-year follow-up. Information from a retrospective study of the surgical pathology reports regarding resection margins, size and differentiation of the primary tumor, histopathologic characteristics of the primary tumor and neck dissection, number, position and size of positive lymph nodes and post treatment staging, was correlated with tumor spread and survival.