Acute Care and Long-Term Results in Treatment of Tracheal Tumors: Monocentric Experience of the Last Seven Years

Tracheal tumors are rare neoplasms with extremely heterogeneous histological aspects and can be potentially life-threatening, due to airway obstruction. We report our results in medical, endoscopic and surgical treatment of primary and secondary tracheal tumors. From January 2008 to June 2015, on 35 patients treated for various tracheal diseases, we observed 6 patients (2 males, 4 females; median age: 50, 5 years, range: 2 months-72 years) with tracheal tumors: 5 primary (subglottic hemangioma, inflammatory pseudotumor, condromatous hamartoma, squamous cell carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma), 1 secondary (pulmonary adenocarcinoma). Treatments were: medical in 1 case (subglottic hemangioma), endoscopic in 2 (squamous carcinoma; metastatic adenocarcinoma), surgical in 3 (inflammatory pseudotumor; condromatous hamartoma; acinic cell carcinoma). Post-treatment course was uneventful and with radical results in all patients. At a median follow-up of 42 months (range: 11-89 months) five of six patients are alive, in good conditions and without local or distant recurrence. Treatment of tracheal tumors may vary in relationship to clinical condition of patients, grade of tracheal obstruction, tumor extension, stage, histology and biological behavior, which are factors affecting prognosis and long-term survival. Endoscopic evaluation and histological diagnosis are mandatory to select the most adequate treatment; whenever possible, radical surgical resection should be performed.