The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of paraglottic space invasion determined with pretreatment computed tomography (CT) for patients with T2N0 glottic carcinoma treated with radiotherapy (RT).

Eighty patients with T2N0 glottic squamous cell carcinomas treated with definitive RT between 1983 and 2002 who had pretreatment CT information available regarding paraglottic space invasion were analyzed. Follow up ranged from 0.14 to 18 years (median, 7.1 years). No patient was lost to follow up.

Five-year outcomes were: local control, 78%; local control with larynx preservation, 80%; relapse-free survival, 71%; and cause-specific survival, 91%. Multivariate analyses of various parameters (including vocal cord mobility, paraglottic space invasion, supraglottic invasion, and subglottic extension) showed that only subglottic extension significantly influenced the probability of cure.

Paraglottic space invasion is likely associated with increased tumor volume and, by itself, is not necessarily associated with poorer outcome after definitive RT.