Minimally invasive surgery versus radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy for small‐volume primary oropharyngeal carcinoma

Patient or population: patients with small‐volume primary oropharyngeal carcinoma

Settings: inpatient

Intervention: transoral, minimally invasive surgery (transoral robotic surgery/transoral laser microsurgery) with or without adjuvant radiotherapy or adjuvant chemoradiotherapy

Comparison: primary radiotherapy with or without induction or concurrent chemotherapy

Overall survival

No data

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Locoregional control

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Progression‐free survival

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Gastrostomy rate (at 1 year)

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Tracheostomy rate

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Swallowing function (MDADI)

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Quality of life (EORTC QLQ‐C30 and H&N35)

No data

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*The basis for the assumed risk (e.g. the median control group risk across studies) is provided in footnotes. The corresponding risk (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI).
CI: confidence interval; EORTC: European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer; MDADI: MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory

GRADE Working Group grades of evidence
High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect.
Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate.
Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate.
Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate.