Primary surgery is associated with survival benefit in patients with advanced cancers of the throat
Patients with cancers of the mid- and lower throat may have higher survival rates if their initial treatment includes surgery, according to new research presented to the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
Researchers told the Congress that a nationwide study in Taiwan found that, five years after diagnosis, radical surgery was associated with significant overall survival benefits among patients whose cancers of the throat had started to spread. However, fewer than half of the patients in the study received surgery.
Dr Chih-Tao Cheng, MD, a medical researcher at the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center in Taipei City, Taiwan, said:
