Surgical treatment of hypopharyngeal cancer: a review of the literature and proposal for a decisional flow-chart

Surgical resection is one of the standard therapeutic choices for the treatment of hypopharyngeal cancer, whether or not combined with postoperative radiotherapy. The type of operation depends on the extension of the lesion and the subsites involved and often requires some form of reconstruction. Reconstructive strategies depend on whether the larynx, or part of it, has been preserved. We believe that the decisional flow-chart of the reconstructive methods after hypopharyngeal cancer resection should be based not only on the extent of resection, but also on the subsites involved. This report presents a literature review on the management of cancer of the hypopharynx and a proposal for a surgical decisional flow-chart.