Abstract:ObjectiveTo investigate the regularity of prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis in glottic carcinoma, in order to provide evidence for improving standard operation of laryngeal carcinoma.MethodsClinical data of 73 patients with glottic carcinoma surgically treated from Jan 2006 to Dec 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. The tumor stage, pathological type, postoperative neck lymph node metastasis, local recurrence and survival time were compared between the patients with early and middleadvanced laryngeal carcinoma, and those with and without prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis.ResultsIn 73 cases of glottic carcinoma, the prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis was found in 4 with a positive rate of 5.47% (4/73). The patients with laryngeal carcinoma of middleadvanced stages (stage III and IV) were more likely to develop cervical lymph node metastasis and prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis than those of early stages (stage I and II), and the differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）. The differences of both cervical and prelaryngeal lymph node metastases between pathological types of well differentiation and poor to moderate differentiation were statistically insignificant（P<0.05）. Postoperative lymph node metastasis and local recurrence were more likely to occur in laryngeal carcinomas of middleadvanced stage than in those of early stage, and the postoperative lymph node metastasis and local recurrence were also more likely to occur in laryngeal carcinomas with prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis than in those without. The differences were all statistically significant（P<0.05）. The survival time of the patients with prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis was shorter than that of those without, and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.ConclusionsWith high incidence of prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis in advanced laryngeal carcinoma, these lymph nodes should be dissected routinely. Due to increase of postoperative cervical lymph node metastasis and local recurrence, the prognosis of patients with positive prelaryngeal lymph node metastasis is poor, which indicates the necessity of further treatment after surgery.