RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognostic factors in patients with hypopharyngeal cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical and pathological data of 178 cases with hypopharyngeal cancer from January 2000 to December 2006 were studied.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 178 hypopharyngeal cancer, the median survival time was 42.8 months (1 - 127 months). Total 3- and 5-year survival rates were 47% and 35%, respectively. The 5-year survival rates of stage I + II, stage III and stage IV were 76.2%, 46.7% and 29.6%, respectively. The second primary carcinoma occurred in 14.0% patients (25/178), of them 18 patients with synchronous carcinoma and 7 patients with metachronous carcinoma. The independent risk factors associated with the prognosis of these patients were T staging, N staging, clinical staging, performance status (PS), smoking index and treatment model (all P < 0.01). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that smoking index, staging of tumor and treatment were independent risk factors of prognosis. The rate of larynx function preservation was increasing with years from 2000 to 2006.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Surgery plus radiotherapy is the most important treatment for the patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. Tumor stage and treatment model are important predictors of survival in patients with hypopharyngeal cancer.</p>