Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Laryngeal Neuroendocrine Carcinoma

Abstract

Objective This study aims to investigate the clinical diagnosis and treatment characteristics of primary laryngeal neuroendocrine carcinoma. Patients and Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the data of 6 patients with primary laryngeal neuroendocrine carcinoma admitted to the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of Dalian Central Hospital from September 2015 to January 2022, all of whom were male patients. And laryngoscopy showed that 4 had a similar appearance to hemangioma, 1 had nodular hyperplasia, and 1 was papilloma-like. The site of onset was located on the laryngeal surface of the epiglottis in 3 cases, situated in the aryepiglottic fold in 2 cases, and the posterior ventricular zone in 1 case. Five patients underwent surgery, including 4 by transoral endoscopic cryogenic plasma radiofrequency mass resection; one underwent a cervical lymph node dissection and supraglottic horizontal hemilaryngectomy. The remaining 1 case was treated in another hospital after the pathological diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy. All patients had no cervical lymph node metastases and were not supplemented with chemoradiotherapy. Results The postoperative pathological diagnosis of all 5 patients was neuroendocrine carcinoma. No cancer cells were seen at the margins and base. One patient was lost to follow-up after treatment in another hospitals and the rest were followed up for 6 months to 6 years. One patient had removed laryngeal tumor and epiglottis by a low-temperature plasma radiofrequency ablation, recurrence 1 year after surgery, and no recurrence for 5 years after supraglottic horizontal hemilaryngectomy combined with prophylactic cervical lymph node dissection, no recurrence for the other 4 patients after 6 months to 4 years of follow-up. Conclusion The common sites of laryngeal neuroendocrine carcinoma are the laryngeal surface of the epiglottis and the aryepiglottic fold. The appearance of the tumor is mainly similar to that of hemangioma. Moreover, a common pathological classification is atypical carcinoid tumors, where early detection and surgical treatment can achieve a good therapeutic effect.

RETRACTED: Risk factors and healing factors for pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy for laryngeal cancer: An epidemiological study

“…The survival status of laryngeal cancer patients has been significantly improved. Early laryngeal cancer 23 , 24 can be treated with hemilaryngectomy, preserving some of the laryngeal organs. Lee et al 25 A retrospective analysis of 119 patients with organ preservation (OP) compared stage I total laryngectomy and OP in patients with locally advanced T3/T4a laryngeal cancer The overall survival rates of total laryngectomy and OP patients were similar, with most patients able to maintain a normal diet after total laryngectomy and a higher local recurrence rate in OP patients.…”

Non-squamous Cancers of the Larynx

“…Sometimes, they may be asymptomatic without any symptoms and may be recognized during laryngoscopy or intubation for another reason [ 29 ]. Laryngeal NET is associated with cigarette smoking and is more common in the 6th–7th decade of males [ 30 ]. Histopathologic examination is very important in the diagnosis because the NEC subtype is determined, and treatment is decided accordingly.…”

Neuroendocrine tumor mimicking a recalcitrant vocal fold granuloma: appearances can be deceiving

“…The aim of this paper is to describe a peculiar case of an uncommon laryngeal neuroendocrine (NE) tumor, with a macroscopic aspect and an indolent clinical course mimicking those of an arytenoid granuloma, and to raise awareness on the importance of a thorough histopathological evaluation of apparently benign laryngeal lesions of the posterior glottis unresponsive to conservative measures. Indeed, laryngeal NE neoplasms rarely present with specific clinical symptoms, especially at early stages, thus possibly leading to incorrect diagnosis and improper treatment [3].…”