Standard Treatment Therapy is similar to that for Stage I. Treatments being studied include neoadjuvant chemotherapy to shrink tumors and improve the ability to treat them with surgery or radiotherapy .
Five-Year Survival 50 to 60 percent
Stage III
Standard Treatment Either the application of radiotherapy to the pharynx and lymph nodes of both sides of the neck, with surgery reserved for those tumors that persist or recur, or a policy of extensive surgery may be used; the latter usually requires reconstructive procedures using portions of the stomach or small bowel and radiotherapy given postoperatively. Surgical and radiotherapy methods and programs, as well as the time schedules involved, vary among treatment centers but give similar results. Patients should be managed by surgeons and radiation oncologists experienced in these complex procedures and treatments.
Patients should be considered for clinical trials evaluating adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
