The long-term prognosis of the cancer is associated with the size of the tumor, the extent of the tumor, whether or not the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes of the neck, and whether the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Small cancers limited to a vocal cord have an excellent prognosis. Large cancers of the larynx that have spread to the lymph nodes of the neck as well as to distant sites of the body have a worse prognosis. However, there are treatments available that provide a chance of cure even in this latter situation. For larger tumors, radiation therapy can be used in combination with either surgery or chemotherapy or both.
Radiation therapy can lead to long-term scarring or swelling of the voice box.
This can lead to a change in the voice or difficulty swallowing. In a small percentage of cases, the swelling can be severe enough to cause difficulty breathing, possibly necessitating a tracheostomy. Radiation therapy will also lead to thickening of the skin overlying the larynx. Surgery and radiation therapy are used alone or together and possibly with the addition of chemotherapy to treat cancer of the larynx. There are many different surgeries that can be performed for laryngeal cancer.