Resumen
Infiltration of the aerodigestive tract determines the prognosis in advanced thyroid carcinoma, ultimately leading to suffocation. To avoid this fatal outcome, surgical treatment strategies?within the framework of multidisciplinary patient care?are required. There are no established guidelines to rely on, and an individualized surgical treatment approach is required. The aim of this study was to present and critically analyze the stepwise escalatory surgical treatment strategy, which was applied over a 16-year time period at the University Medical Center Mainz, in respect to the resulting recurrence-free survival. The feasibility of stage-adapted tracheal resections is illustrated by the present study. Despite the risk of potentially life-threatening complications from the operations, prolonged recurrence-free and overall survival were observed in the institutional cohort of patients suffering from high-stage thyroid carcinoma.