Predicting the Local Outcome of Irradiated Laryngeal Cancer: Value of Pretreatment Imaging

Concerns have been expressed about the weakness of the T classification for laryngeal cancer, and for cancers at other head and neck sites, as the cure rates reported in the literature vary and prognosis is not sufficiently related to the T values (BAILEY 1991; HARRISON 1988; PICCIRILLO 1995). Modern radiologic imaging methods assist in pretreatment planning by defining the extension of infiltrating head and neck tumors better, and, moreover, quantitative evaluation of tumor volume is feasible. In this chapter the use of pretherapeutic imaging in coming to a more refined estimation of the local outcome of laryngeal cancer after radiation treatment is discussed.