’Correspondence - A commentary on ‘Updated disease distributions, risk factors, and trends of laryngeal cancer: a global analysis of cancer registries’

Sep 21, 2026

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Letter-style correspondence commenting on the article “Updated disease distributions, risk factors, and trends of laryngeal cancer: a global analysis of cancer registries.” The commentary discusses global trends, clinical presentation, symptoms, treatment control and survival rates, and links to tobacco and alcohol exposure and other listed risk factors. It also critiques limitations, including COVID-19-related forecast omissions and possible registry reporting and detection biases, concluding with calls to improve surveillance systems and promote healthier lifestyles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Correspondence

Summary of the original article and global trends

Clinical features, symptoms, and survival outcomes

Risk factors and sex-specific prognosis debate

Study aims, limitations, and surveillance recommendations

Declarations and publication information

’Correspondence A commentary on ‘Updated disease distributions, risk factors, and trends of laryngeal cancer: a global analysis of cancer registries’ Zhongliang Fu, PhDa , Jiajia Lv, PhDb,* Dear Editor, It was with great interest that we read the article published in the International Journal of Surgery. Huang et al. [1] conducted a global review of cancer registries to determine the incidence and mortality rate of laryngeal cancer. According to research, the fact that overall global trends in laryngeal cancer have been decreasing, particularly among men, could be attributed to reduced tobacco and alcohol consumption. Laryngeal carcinoma (LC) is the most frequent cancer in otolaryngology, accounting for 30–40% of head and neck cancers. The location and size of the initial tumor determine the wide range of clinical presentation associated with laryngeal cancer. A lump or pain that won’t go away, a sore throat, trouble swallowing, and hoarseness of voice are some symptoms. Early-stage laryngeal malignancies can be effectively treated with curative surgery, resulting in 80–95% local control rates; in contrast, regionally advanced larynx cancers are linked to substantially lower control rates, ranging from 40 to 70% . The survival rate can reach 80% in patients with locally isolated laryngeal cancers but drops to 46% in those whose tumors have spread to surrounding tissues and/or the regional lymph nodes and can reach 34% in patients whose cancer has already spread to other organs at the time of diagnosis. However, the survival rate may also depend on the staging and location of the cancer (subglottis, glottis, or supraglottis)[2] . Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption are clearly linked to the development of upper aerodigestive tract squamous cell carcinomas. The American Cancer Society lists the following asthe primary risk factors for LC: smoking, binge drinking, gastric reﬂux, Plummer-Vinson syndrome, anatomical anomalies, heat, chemicals, asbestos, nickel, or ionizing radiation exposure, as aDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, The People ’s Hospital of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China and bDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Afﬁliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China Sponsorships or competing interests that maybe relevant to content are disclosed atthe end of this article. *Corresponding author. Address: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The First Afﬁliated HospitalofChina Medical University, Shenyang110001, Liaoning, People’s Republic ofChina. Tel.:+18 809 892 837, fax: +24 832 831 26. E-mail: [13897968470@163.com](13897968470@163.com) (J. Lv). Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even for commercial purposes, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. International Journal of Surgery (2024) 110:4435–4436 Received 27 February 2024; Accepted 3 March 2024 Published online 3 April 2024 [http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JS9.0000000000001355](http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JS9.0000000000001355) well as certain viral infections. According to some research, a patient’s gender can predict their prognosis independently for LC patients, with male patients having the lowest short-term and long-term survival rates[3] . However, a meta-analysis indicates that for individuals with laryngeal cancer, sex is not a major independent predictive factor[4] . The purpose of this study was to examine the epidemiological trend of laryngeal cancer using the most recent data on the disease burden’s worldwide distribution. This novel approach provides insightful guidance and inspiration for the further development of this ﬁeld of study. Nevertheless, there were several constraints.

FAQs

What does the commentary highlight about global trends in laryngeal cancer?

It notes that overall global trends in laryngeal cancer have been decreasing, particularly among men, and links this to reduced tobacco and alcohol consumption.

Which risk factors for laryngeal cancer are emphasized in the letter?

The letter cites smoking, binge drinking, gastric reflux, Plummer-Vinson syndrome, anatomical anomalies, and exposures such as heat, chemicals, asbestos, nickel, and ionizing radiation, as well as certain viral infections.

What limitations does the commentary identify in the epidemiological analysis?

It states that COVID-19 impacts were not included in GLOBOCAN 2020 forecasts, which may have led to overstated incidence, and it raises concerns about reporting excess and detection differences driven by where registries and health examinations are concentrated.

Sep 21, 2026

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