Comparison of Two Different Radiation Fractionation Schedules in Early Stage Carcinoma Larynx

Introduction: Carcinoma of larynx which is linked directly with smoking is emering a very big public heath problem. In our study, we have treated cases of early glottic carcinoma by two different dose fractionation schedules in relation to overall treatment time and have tried to assess the response of two different fractionation schedules. Material and Methods: This is an analysis of 29 patients with invasive, previously untreated T1 and T2 squamous cell carcinoma of true vocal cord that were treated by radical radiation therapy. All patients were treated with a continuous course of radiation therapy with once daily fractionation. All the patients were treated 5 days a week from Monday to Friday. The fractionation regime was either: • 62.5Gy/25fractions/5 [email protected] (Regimen-1) • 70 Gy/35 fractions/7 weeks@2 Gy/fraction (Regimen-2) Regimen-1 included 15/29 patients (51.72%) and Regimen-2 included 14/29 patients (48.27%). Results: There was no significant difference in terms of locoregional control rate, acute and late radiation toxicities in both groups. Voice quality during and after radiation was comparable in both arms. Conclusion: Use of high dose per fraction schedule with shorter duration of treatment results in comparable local control as well as quality of voice to the protracted course of radiotherapy without increase in treatment related toxicities. Shorter overall treatment time can be of great advantage in terms of time, cost, comfort and acceptability by the patients.