A team of Harvard doctors’ reports that a new outpatient laser procedure using pulsed angiolytic lasers may eliminate the need for radiation, preserve speech, shorten treatment time and significantly improve care in other ways for larynx cancer patients who are diagnosed early.

The therapy, which uses heat from the laser to destroy the tumor’s blood supply and cancer cells, is far less damaging to surrounding tissue than radiation and other types of lasers. The standard treatment for those with early cancers of the larynx, including biopsies and radiation, can lead to permanent hoarseness or speech impairment. Also, when radiation is used for laryngeal cancers it cannot ordinarily be used again if other cancers develop nearby. The new procedure offers an additional advantage because laryngeal cancer is most common in smokers who are prone to developing additional types of cancer in the head and neck. All previous laser treatments have burned the vocal cords while angiolytic treatment helps to preserve the vocal cords.

The new therapy was tested in 28 patients at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The laser was the patient’s only treatment and none have had a recurrence or needed surgery or radiation after an average follow-up of 27 months. The longest follow-up was more than five years.

Experts say the procedure must now be tested on more patients and monitored for a longer period before it can become a standard therapy. Researchers must also determine which types of laryngeal cancers and which patients are appropriate for the laser treatment.

The Harvard doctors predict that the angiolytic laser may also eventually be used for treatment of cancers of the esophagus, bladder, cervix, windpipe and lung.