Combined chemoradiotherapy for early glottic cancer in clinical practice in Japan: analysis of 10 institutions.

AIM:To conduct a retrospective analysis regarding treatment strategies for early glottic cancer (GC) at ten institutions. PATIENTS AND METHODS:A questionnaire-based survey was used to obtain personal and medical information on patients who started radiation therapy for T1 or T2 GC between January 2000 and December 2005. RESULTS:A total of 279 patients were registered for the survey, of whom 124 patients were classified as T1a, with 65 patients as T1b and 87 patients as T2. The rates of chemoradiotherapy for T1a, T1b and T2 were 24%, 23% and 60%, respectively. A comparison of results for academic and non-academic hospitals showed statistically different rates of combination therapy for T1a (6.9% vs. 39.3%, respectively; p<0.001) and T1b (11.4% vs. 36.6%, respectively; p<0.05) but not for T2 (70.0% vs. 54.4%, respectively; p = 0.158). CONCLUSION:In clinical practice, combined chemoradiotherapy was performed for early GC at most institutions in Tokai District, Japan.