Utility approach to decision-making in extended T1 and limited T2 glottic carcinoma

Background: It is still undecided if endoscopic laser surgery or radiotherapy is the preferable treatment in extended T1 and limited T2 glottic tumors. Health utilities assessed from patients can aid in decision-making. Methods: Patients treated for extended T1 or limited T2 glottic carcinoma by laser surgery (n = 12) or radiotherapy (n = 14) assigned health utilities using a visual analog scale (VAS), time tradeoff (TTO) technique and scored their voice handicap using the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Results: VAS and TTO scores were slightly lower for the laser group compared to the radiotherapy group, however, not significantly so. The VHI showed a correlation with the VAS score, which was very low in both groups and can be considered (near) normal. Conclusion: Patients show no clear preference for the outcomes of laser surgery or radiotherapy from a quality of life (QOL) or voice handicap point of view. These data can now be incorporated into decision-making models.

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