TITLE:
Thyroid Cartilage Chondrosarcoma Review: Management and Prognosis of a Rare Tumor
AUTHORS:
Antonio Rodríguez-Valiente, Amaya Roldán-Fidalgo, Jose Ramón García-Berrocal, Isabel Salas, Beatriz Brea
KEYWORDS:
Chondrosarcoma; Laryngeal Cartilages; Thyroid Cartilage; Therapeutics
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.3 No.2,
March
10,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objective: This article is a critical review
of the literature concerning thyroid cartilage chondrosarcoma and is particularly focused on the
management and prognosis of this rare entity. Study Design: A review of all the
cases of thyroid cartilage chondrosarcoma reported in the literature up to January 2013. Methods: The search
was carried out through the introduction of the MeSH terms: Chondrosarcoma, Laryngeal Cartilages, Thyroid Cartilage, Therapeutics.
All the studies related to thyroid cartilage chondrosarcoma were selected together
with a newly presented case. Results: A total of 47 cases have been described
in the literature, and 35 of these include sufficient data for statistical analysis. The age
of patients ranged from 40 to 77 years, with a male predilection (88.6%). The
main symptoms were neck mass and hoarseness. Grade I and II tumors were most
frequent. A total of 13 cases described an extension of the tumor beyond the
thyroid cartilage. The most common treatment was partial laryngectomy (50%).
All patients who died were male, with grade II or II-III tumor or associated
sarcoma, had metastases and received radiotherapy in addition to total laryngectomy. Conclusion:
Patient age and tumor size does not influence the prognosis. Tumor grade I and I-II
have good prognoses, whereas the prognosis is unpredictable in tumors between grade II and III.
Patients with associated sarcoma, or metastasis, have a worse prognosis.
Partial laryngectomy is a good therapeutic option, although total laryngectomy
is sometimes required in order to ensure complete resection.