Radiation vs surgery for early-stage laryngeal verrucous carcinoma: A population-based propensity score matched-study

BACKGROUND: Verrucous carcinoma (VC) is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma. Although VC is considered radioresistant, concrete evidence for this is absent. METHODS: We obtained data on VC treated with surgery or radiation from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Treatment selection bias was reduced by propensity score matching. Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Five-year OS rates in the radiation and surgery groups were 72.7% and 72.0%, respectively (P = 0.111); five-year DSS rates in the same were 86.7% and 88.4%, respectively (P = 0.234). HRs of radiation compared with surgery were 1.68 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.96–2.95) for OS and 1.95 (95% CI, 0.69–5.53) for DSS. CONCLUSIONS: Similar prognoses were observed in patients with VC treated with radiation and surgery. VC can be treated using radiation.