Objective: Despite the high rate of metastases in advanced prostatic cancer, only 12 reports with 13 cases of laryngeal metastases in prostatic cancer have been given in the literature since the first description by Schmorl in 1908. A histopathological study was undertaken to clarify the obvious controversial clinical experience of multiple metastases in prostatic cancer but rare observations of laryngeal involvement.
Study design: Postmortem laryngeal examination in advanced prostatic cancer.
Methods: Six patients with prostatic cancer and tumor spread to different organs but without clinical symptoms of laryngeal involvement were available for postmortem analysis. Gross anatomical inspection of the inner and outer surfaces of the removed larynx, horizontal slices of the larynx, and subsequent histological investigations including immunohistochemical analysis were used to search for metastases.
Results: Macroscopic evaluation of the whole-larynx specimens did not lead to suspicion of laryngeal metastases. Interestingly, in all six larynx specimens of patients with metastatic prostatic cancer, laryngeal tumor infiltration was detected by macroscopic inspection of horizontal slices and proven histologically. Tumor infiltration ranged from focal micrometastases in the hematopoietic tissue of the ossified laryngeal skeleton to partial destruction of the external and/or internal osseous or cartilaginous lamina of the laryngeal skeleton.
Conclusions: The larynx is more often affected in metastatic prostatic cancer disease than is suggested by clinical experience. Because prostatic cancer metastasis starts in the hematopoietic areas of the ossified laryngeal skeleton, macroscopic evaluation of the whole larynx fails to detect metastases. Detecting laryngeal involvement requires horizontal slices and histological analysis.