Laryngeal soft tissue sarcoma: Systematic review and individual patient data analysis of 300 cases

Background: Laryngeal sarcoma is rare. We performed a systematic review and individual patient analysis to evaluate the patterns of care, prognostic factors, and role of radiotherapy in laryngeal soft tissue sarcoma.

Methods: A systematic search on PubMed and Google scholar was done. An individual patient data analysis was done.

Results: Of the 300 cases of laryngeal sarcoma, 80% underwent surgery. 44% underwent larynx preservation surgery and 25% received radiotherapy with surgery. Median progression free survival (PFS) was 48 months and overall survival (OS) of 224 months for the entire cohort. Patients with large primary, cartilage invasion, and positive margins had numerically worse PFS. Cartilage invasion and primary tumor size >3 cm were the most common risk factors for adjuvant radiation therapy. Patients receiving radiotherapy were not associated with better survival.

Conclusion: Laryngeal sarcoma associated with a good survival. Larynx preservation surgery is feasible in nearly half patients. Adjuvant radiotherapy may be warranted in patients poor prognostic factors.