Development and Validation of Nomograms to Precisely Predict Conditional Risk of Recurrence for Patients With Laryngeal Cancer: a Single-institutional Study

Advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remains a highly morbid and fatal disease despite aggressive interventions. Mortality is high in this cohort: laryngeal cancer affects over 13 000 patients in the United States, with over 3500 deaths annually.The results of the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program Laryngeal Cancer Trial and subsequent studies demonstrated similar overall survival (OS) rates for organ preservation protocols involving radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) when compared to surgery, with the benefit of preserving the larynx in a large majority of patients. As such, the use of RT or CRT has become the predominant initial intervention for patients with laryngeal SCC.6 However, the prognosis of recurrent and persistent laryngeal SCC is particularly dire.In this study, we sought to identify preoperative predictors of survival for patients with recurrent or persistent laryngeal SCC in order to set patient expectations and address modifiable risk factors. Identification of predictors of survival may also identify patients who could benefit from novel therapeutic agents in a neo/adjuvant fashion. Herein,we examine a cohort of patients with recurrent or persistent laryngeal SCC after definitive RT/CRT who has undergone total laryngectomy in order to identify potential preoperative predictors of clinical outcomes.