Surgical, clinical and functional outcomes of transoral robotic surgery for supraglottic laryngeal cancers: A systematic review

Background: The aim of this systematic review is to shed light the current indications and outcomes of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) supraglottic laryngectomy (SGL) in patients with supraglottic laryngeal cancer. Methods: PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library were searched by three independent otolaryngologists from the Young Otolaryngologists of IFOS for studies investigating the indications, effectiveness and safety of TORS SGL. Surgical, functional, and survival outcomes have been investigated. Inclusion/exclusion criteria; demographic data; and clinical outcome evaluation of papers were analyzed using PRISMA criteria. Results: A total of 14 papers met our inclusion criteria, accounting for 422 patients (335 males & 87 females). The tumor location mainly consisted of epiglottis (55.4%), aryepglottic fold (31.2%), and ventricular band (5.1%). The following tumor stages were considered: cT1 (35.8%); cT2 (48.6%) and cT3 (13.9%). Feeding tube and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy were used in 62.5% and 8.82% of patients, respectively. The 24-month local & regional control rates ranged from 94.3% to 100% and 87.5% to 94.0%, respectively. The 2-year and 5-year overall survival rates ranged from 66.7% to 88.0% and 78.7% to 80.2%, respectively. There was an important heterogeneity between studies with regard to the inclusion/exclusion criteria, follow-up times, complications analysis; surgical and functional outcomes. Conclusion: TORS SGL is an effective approach for treating patients with early stages supraglottic cancers. Future controlled studies are needed to compare functional and survival outcomes between TORS SGL and other surgical approaches. Recommendations have been provided for future studies for better inclusion of patients, analysis of complications and functional outcomes.