Laryngeal Carcinoma Classified by Clinical Staging

Abstract

THE EARLIEST studies of laryngeal pathology were postmortem examinations, so the first classifications, by necessity, were anatomical. In 1790¹Morgagni referred to two of Valsalva's cases; these were actually cases of laryngopharyngeal carcinoma. Within 25 years of the development of the laryngoscopic mirror by Garcia, clinical classifications that better served the laryngologist were developed. In 1866, Krishaber designated as laryngeal cancer only the endolaryngeal lesions. Isambert in 1879 expressed disagreement and classified tumors developing in the opening and in the pharyngeal wall of the larynx as extrinsic. In 1879, Krishaber published a second work on cancer of the larynx accepting Isambert's criticism. Therefore, Krishaber is generally accepted in the English and American literature as originating the classification of laryngeal cancer into extrinsic and intrinsic.² It was in 1925 that the well-known Broders'³system of grading was introduced. His system was basically histologic and used the maturation