[Effect of extracapsular extension on cervical recurrence and the survival of patients with laryngeal tumors].

The influence of the extracapsular spread (ECS) of metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with laryngeal cancer is discussed. The study included 119 patients who underwent surgery between 1984 and 1992 for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and lymph node metastasis confirmed by histology. Results were studied from two main aspects: survival and cervical recurrence. The 3-year survival rate was 73.4% in patients without ECS and 28.9% in patients with ECS (p < 0.001). The 3-year local recurrence rate differed significantly: 23.5% in patients without ECS and 58.3% in patients with ECS (p < 0.001). These results showed that ECS had an unfavorable prognostic significance for lymph node metastasis of laryngeal cancer.