ABSTRACT
Pyriform fossa tumours have the best prognosis – radiotherapy can achieve local control in 90 per cent of T1 tumours and 80 per cent of T2 tumours with a 5-year overall survival of 50-65 per cent. Involvement of the apex of the pyriform fossa (which may imply occult invasion of cartilage) predicts a lower chance of cure. Postcricoid carcinomas have a 20-50 per cent cure rate with radiotherapy which is equivalent to that in surgical series. There are fewer data available for posterior wall tumours but cure rates are similar to those for postcricoid cancer.
