Salvage surgery is the gold-standard treatment for locoregional recurrence of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer following radiation therapy. Imperfect oncologic and functional results, however, require patient selection. The main objective of the present study was to determine preoperative factors for survival. Secondary objectives were to study 5-year overall and disease-free survival, general and locoregional complications, and functional results in terms of feeding and tracheotomy closure.

A retrospective multicenter study included 52 patients treated by salvage surgery for recurrence of laryngeal or hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma after radiation therapy between 2005 and 2013.

Factors associated with improved 3-year overall survival on univariate analysis comprised laryngeal primary (P=0.001), laryngeal recurrence (P=0.026), rT1, rT2 or rT3 rather than rT4 tumor (P=0.007), previous chemotherapy (P=0.036), and neck dissection during salvage surgery (P=0.005), the last of these being confirmed on multivariate analysis. Five-year overall survival was 36.0% (range, 27.6–44.4%), for a median 23.04 months (95% CI, 19.44–26.64). Five-year disease-free survival was 23.5% (range, 16.0–31.0%), for a median 8.04 months (95% CI, 2.04–14.04).

Salvage surgery for laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer is difficult, and survival is not good. Laryngeal primary and recurrence location, moderate tumor volume and extension (<T4), prior chemotherapy and neck dissection during salvage surgery were associated with better overall and disease-free survival, which should enable better patient selection.