CARCINOMA HYPOPHARYNX- EPIDEMIOLOGICAL FACTORS AND DISEASE OUTCOMES-OUR INSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCE

Aim: To assess the Carcinoma Hypopharynx (CH)- epidemiological factors and disease outcomes-our institutional experience. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from the electronic medical data of 35 carcinoma hypopharynx in the Bernard Institute of Radiation Oncology, RGGGH, Chennai, India, between June 2024 and December 2024. Results: Out of 35 studied carcinoma hypopharynx patients, males (54.3%) were higher, patients aged 61-70 years (37.1%) were higher, Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was higher histo-pathological tumors (91.4%), and lifestyle risk factors such as smoking (51.4%) and alcohol use (37.1%) were associated with complications of CH. Among the study patient's T-stage tumors T3 (62.9%) were higher, followed by T2 and T4, each accounting for 17.1% respectively. Among the N-stage tumors, the N0 category (34.3%), which indicates no regional lymph node metastasis, was higher, 34.3%, N2c (22.9%), and N3 b (20%) were found in the N-stage of the tumors. In only 8.6% of cases, patients received a Stage II diagnosis. Most were identied in late stages, including Stage IVB (25.7%), Stage III (34.3%), and Stage IVA (31.4%). This indicates that hypopharyngeal cancer was diagnosed in a late stage in about 91.4% of cases. Treatment-related toxicities were associated with radiotherapy modalities; 3DCRT was associated with gastrointestinal toxicities (81.5%, p-0.001), whereas IMRT was associated with Mucositis toxicities. Importantly, anemia (48.1%) was found exclusively associated with 3DCRT, and was not associated with IMRT (0%) (p-0.032). Conclusions: This research study concludes and is strongly supported by the documentation of epidemiological trends and comparative treatment toxicity proles. The hypopharyngeal cancer requires a move toward advanced radiation techniques like IMRT in the treatment of hypopharyngeal carcinoma. This shift will enhance and improve patient compliance and long-term outcomes in addition to improving tolerability. A sizable percentage of patients showed prolonged survival for more than a year, despite the aggressive nature of the illness, the advanced stage at diagnosis, and hence we recommend therapeutic benet of improved radiation treatments and early intervention will prolong survival, even in a situation with limited resources can bring good quality of life in patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma.