Tumors of the larynx

Both benign and malignant tumors can occur in the larynx. Non-tumor lesions can also occur here based on chronic inflammation or traumatization. Epithelial tumors overwhelmingly dominate over mesenchymal tumors.

Nodulus vocalis

 * Also a singing nodule, it arises bilaterally on the vocal cords during chronic abuse of the voice.


 * The histological picture shows edema and myxoid transformation of the ligament in Reinke's space (the space between the squamous epithelium of the vocal cord and the vocal ligament).



Vocal polyp

 * Most often occurs unilaterally after short-term voice switching.

Squamous papilloma of the larynx

 * Benign epithelial tumor caused by HPV virus type 6 and 11 infection. Less favorable are HPV 16 and 18.
 * Juvenile type – often multiple (papillomatosis), papillomas scattered anywhere in the larynx and in the trachei, there is a risk of airway obstruction.
 * Adult type – mainly solitary, greater risk of malignancy.
 * Histologically, koilocytosis with hyperplasia epidermis is demonstrable.

Laryngeal carcinoma



 * Malignant epithelial tumor of the larynx.
 * Histologically, it is most often a squamous cell (squamous) carcinoma.
 * Tumor proliferation develops from the stage of mild, moderate and severe dysplasia, through carcinoma in situ to the image of invasive squamous carcinoma.
 * Carcinoma grows in either an exophytic (verrucous carcinoma) or endophytic (conventional carcinoma) manner.
 * According to localization, the tumor is divided into "supraglottic, glottic and infraglottic type".
 * The glottic type has the best prognosis, the infraglottic type has the worst prognosis (in the initial stage it is asymptomatic and metastasizes to the mediastinum and regional nodes).
 * Glottic carcinoma most often arises in the ligamentous part of one vocal cord and spreads to the other vocal cord through the anterior commissure, it manifests clinically very soon.
 * Supraglottic carcinoma arises from islands of squamous epithelium of the epiglottis.
 * Infraglottic carcinoma is very rare.

Etiology - particularly smoking cigarettes, drinking hard alcohol or air pollution, viral etiology also plays a role here.Epidemiology - this is the most common malignant tumor in the ENT area, it overwhelmingly affects men with a frequency of 9.4 per 100,000, the average age is 60 years.

Clinical signs - hoarseness (especially if it lasts more than 2 weeks), odynophagia, dyspnoea.

Metastasis - cancer metastasizes to regional lymph nodes (especially in the trigonum caroticum).


 * Infraglottic carcinoma also metastasizes to the peritracheal nodes, which manifests itself at a very late stage.
 * Distant metastases are mainly located in the lungs.

Related Articles

 * Larynx
 * Larynx (histological preparation)