The Effect of Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Consumption on Survival in Advanced Laryngeal Cancer

Background: Laryngeal cancer is the second most common respiratory tract cancer, with a relative 5-year overall survival rate varying by tumor site. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the survival of patients based on epidemiological factors, as well as clinical and demographic data. Methods: The study group consisted of 150 patients with advanced laryngeal cancer who underwent total laryngectomy (TL). Demographic data, symptoms, risk factors, tumor characteristics, and postoperative complications were analyzed. Results: The overall survival rates after 1, 3, and 5 years for laryngeal cancer were 99.3%, 97.0%, and 76.5%, respectively. Patients with stage 3 disease had a significantly higher five-year survival rate than those with stage 4 disease (91.0% vs. 68.4%; log-rank: 12.6, P = 0.002). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that 1-year survival was worse among patients with a positive history of alcohol consumption (45.8% vs. 96.2%; log-rank: 13.8, P < 0.001). Although the effect of smoking on survival was not statistically significant due to the small number of non-smoking patients, clinically, a higher percentage of advanced laryngeal cancer patients were smokers. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption and a high tumor stage in patients with laryngeal cancer worsen the prognosis and reduce survival.