CARCINOMA OF THE LARYNX AND HYPOPHARYNX IN THE ELDERLY

The outcome of a series of 68 patients over 75 years old with carcinom a of the larynx, and 33 patients over 75 years old with hypopharyngeal carcinoma managed by a single oncological team during a 10-year perio d was studied. Sixty-one of the patients with laryngeal carcinoma were treated with curative intent, The actuarial 3-year survival rate of t he whole group was 45%, This contrasts with hypopharyngeal carcinoma i n which we found a 3-year survival of 11% with only 17 of the 33 patie nts suitable for treatment with curative intent, Un view of the antici pated poor prognosis of hypopharyngeal carcinoma in the elderly we con clude that treatment should be directed towards palliation without rad ical surgery whenever possible.