ObjectiveTo investigate the surgical treatment and clinical efficacy of postcricoid carcinoma.MethodsClinical data of 39 cases suffering from postcricoid carcinoma surgically treated from 2010 to 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Of them 38 were male and 1 was female, aged from 39 to 70 years old. According to the UICC staging system in 2002, their clinical stages were as follows: 7 cases were in stage I, 7 in stage II, 8 in stage III and 17 in stage IV. The laryngeal function was retained in 25 cases and not retained in 14. The pharyngeal and laryngeal functions were reconstructed after complete resection of the tumors in all cases. As for the adjuvant therapy, 15 cases underwent preoperative induction chemotherapy and postoperative radiotherapy, 14 cases underwent postoperative radiotherapy, 8 cases underwent preoperative induction chemotherapy, and 2 received surgical treatment alone.ResultsPostoperative pharyngeal fistula and hypopharyngeal stenosis occurred in 5 and 2 cases , and were healed in stage II by dressing and esophagoscopic dilatation respectively. The followup period ranged from 5 to 65 months. 7 cases were lost to followup. One of the 5 cases who had been followed up for 5 years and above was alive. 18 cases had been followed up for more than 3 years, and 7 were alive. The follow up period was shorter than 3 years in the remaining 9 cases. Logrank test showed that there were no significant differences in survival rates between groups with and without laryngeal function preservation, with and without preoperative induction chemotherapy, with and without cervical lymph node metastasis, and those in stage I~II and stage III~IV (all P> 0.05).ConclusionWith the development of surgical treatment for postcricoid carcinoma, the laryngeal function can be preserved appropriately in middle and advanced cases on the basis of safe excision of cancer focus, which can improve the quality of life of patients to some extent while combined with comprehensive surgical treatment.