Primary laryngeal lymphoma in China: a retrospective study of the last 25 years

ObjectiveTo retrospectively study the primary laryngeal lymphoma cases in China reported in Chinese-language literature.MethodChinese-language literature was searched for papers on primary laryngeal lymphoma published in the last 25 years.ResultsThe selected papers comprised a total of 115 cases. The male-to-female ratio was 3.4:1. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was the exclusive pathological type. The estimated 3-year, 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 70.9 ± 6.4 per cent, 63.4 ± 7.6 per cent and 56.4 ± 9.5 per cent respectively, as determined by Kaplan–Meier analysis. B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients had a better prognosis than T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients (p = 0.032). Patients with lymph node involvement at diagnosis had a poorer prognosis (p < 0.01).ConclusionPrimary laryngeal lymphoma is a rare disease with no specific clinical features. More than one biopsy might be needed to obtain the correct diagnosis. Proper treatment could lead to promising outcomes. The T-cell subtype and lymph node involvement at diagnosis might indicate worse prognosis.