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Laryngeal sarcoma
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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Laryngeal sarcoma is very rare in otolaryngological practice. According to the German ENT oncologist O. Matsker, up to 1958, the world press had published information about only about 250 cases of this disease, so that the 0.5% of sarcomas among all malignant tumors of the larynx, which the French ENT oncologists M. Leroux-Robert and F. Petit spoke about, seem to be significantly overestimated. Thus, as the Romanian author N. Kostinescu (1954) writes, in 15 years (up to 1964) only one case of laryngeal sarcoma was registered in the clinic he headed.
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What causes laryngeal sarcoma?
Unlike laryngeal cancer, which in the vast majority of cases occurs in people over 40 years of age and predominantly in men, laryngeal sarcoma occurs in people under 20 years of age and even in children, equally often in both sexes, most often localized on the vocal folds, where it is visualized as a polyp-like formation on a stalk. Next in frequency of localization are the epiglottis, subglottic space, ventricles of the larynx, arytenoid cartilages. Laryngeal sarcoma can be primary or secondary, spreading from neighboring anatomical structures (tongue, pharynx, trachea, thyroid gland).
Pathological anatomy of laryngeal sarcoma
Histologically, spindle cell fibrosarcomas, angiosarcomas, chondrosarcomas, myxosarcoma, lymphosarcoma, reticulosarcoma, and melanosarcoma are identified. Cases of sarcoma combined with laryngeal cancer have been described.
Symptoms of laryngeal sarcoma
Symptoms of laryngeal sarcoma are identical to those observed in laryngeal cancer, but sarcomas are characterized by a more rapid and aggressive development with early metastasis, which is especially characteristic of lympho-, reticulo- and angiosarcomas. Fibrosarcomas have a slower development, are similar in their clinical manifestations to vocal fold polynomia, but after infiltration of surrounding tissues they evolve very quickly and within a few months reach the stage of inoperability with extensive metastasis to the lymph nodes of the neck, mediastinum and internal organs.
What do need to examine?
Treatment of laryngeal sarcoma
Treatment of laryngeal sarcoma is surgical, based on the same techniques as for laryngeal cancer, combined with subsequent radiation therapy.
What is the prognosis for laryngeal sarcoma?
Laryngeal sarcoma has a variable prognosis; it depends mainly on the stage of the disease and to a lesser extent on the treatment used, since in advanced cases, even with the most radical surgical treatment followed by radiation and chemotherapy, relapses occur in the overwhelming majority of cases.