Cancer of the Larynx in Puerto Rico (Original STUDIES‪)‬

Cancer of the larynx is the fourteenth most common cancer in the world (1). If allowed to proceed unchecked, it is life threatening. The frequency of laryngeal cancer was reported to be between 2% and 5% of all malignancies in the United States (2). During 2004, 8,060 new male cases and 2,210 new female cases of larynx cancer were reported in the United States (3). In Puerto Rico, 107 males and 22 females were diagnosed with laryngeal cancer during 1990. The last official population-based cancer report in Puerto Rico was published by the Department of Health in 1993 using 1991 cancer data (4). Mortality from cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, larynx and lung between 1955 and 1989 has been analyzed for the USA, Canada and 14 countries in Latin America (5). Uruguay, Cuba, Argentina and Puerto Rico have the highest rates for these sites among the male population, while Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Colombia have the lowest rates. Among females, Cuba, Colombia and Puerto Rico rank high for these sites, while Mexico, Paraguay, Ecuador and Peru rank low (5). A recent study, conducted in Poland, described a significant increase of female patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinoma during the period 1991 to 2001, with average sex ratio Male:Female = 8:1 (6). The study also revealed that the glottis localization of carcinoma dominated (47.6%), followed by supraglottis (40.8%) and pyriform fossa (7.8%). In the majority of cases, carcinoma of larynx and hypopharynx was diagnosed in the advanced stages (T3 and T4) of the disease, with the highest percentage localization in the pyriform fossa (81.0%) and the lowest percentage in glottis tumors (45.6%). Regional lymph nodes metastases were observed in 46.7% of the group, with the highest percentage of tumors found in the pyriform fossa (82.9%) and the lowest percentage in tumors with glottis localization (33.1%).