Primary sarcomas of the larynx – a report of three cases and literature review

Abstract

Introduction Primary sarcomas are uncommonly seen in the larynx and comprise around 1% of all laryngeal malignant tumors. We present three cases of patients with different types of laryngeal sarcomas and discuss about diagnostic and treatment difficulties.

Case outline Each patient presented with hoarseness and shortness of breath. Computed tomography scans showed large transglottic tumors of the larynx with no signs of cervical lymphadenopathy and definitive diagnoses of sarcomas were made by pathologists. Each patient underwent total laryngectomy with clear resection margins. Patient with laryngeal leiomyosarcoma developed large locoregional relapse of malignant disease and pulmonary metastasis four months after surgery and patient with laryngeal osteosarcoma was diagnosed with inoperative locoregional relapse of malignant disease three months after surgery. Both patients died within six months after surgery. On the other hand, patient with laryngeal chondrosarcoma was disease-free during the three-year follow-up.

Conclusion Primary laryngeal sarcomas have low incidence and they differ from squamous cell carcinoma by their biological characteristics and behavior. Radical surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment with uncertain outcome due to their high potential for recurrence or metastatic spread.

Keywords: sarcoma; leiomyosarcoma; osteosarcoma; chondrosarcoma; laryngeal neoplasms; laryngectomy