[Results of postoperative cervical node irradiation in carcinoma of the pharyngo-larynx. A study of the cooperative group of radiotherapists]. / Résultats de l'irradiation ganglionnaire cervicale postopératoire dans les carcinomes du pharyngolarynx. Etude du groupe coopérateur des radiothérapeutes de centre.

From 1981 to 1985, 428 patients presenting with an epidermoid carcinoma of the hypopharynx and/or larynx were treated with a curative intent by surgical resection and postoperative irradiation. Two-thirds of the tumours were T3 and 60% of patients presented with a clinical node involvement. The rates of local failure were 8%, 18% and 13%, respectively, for cancers of the larynx, of the piriform sinus and of the posterior wall; the rates of regional failure were 8%, 23% and 13%, respectively. There is no head and neck site with either a high or low risk of recurrence after resection, but the capsular rupture remains a factor of poor prognosis. The survival rate at 5 years of the whole series is 38%, for laryngeal localisation it reaches 62%. The risk of metastases is related to the node involvement and the interval between surgery and irradiation.