Laryngeal Cancer and the End of Life (As We Know It)

Patients with laryngeal cancer undergo life-changing interventions that impact their individual and social well-being. There remains to be an in-depth characterization of the multidimensional symptom burden faced by patients with laryngeal cancer at the end of life. Care at end of life must attend to symptoms that manifest earlier in the course of illness. This article characterizes the suffering experienced by patients with laryngeal cancer, including societal shame, poor mental health, and inequitable outcomes. For patients with advanced laryngeal cancer, surgical palliative care provides a necessary and helpful paradigm for caregiver support, goals-of-care conversations, and treatment counseling.