Pretreatment staging, involving laryngoscopy, measurement of the tumor, and high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) scanning of the primary tumor and the neck, was performed within four weeks before entry into the study. To rule out synchronous primary cancers, either CT imaging of the chest and barium esophagography or panendoscopy (i.e., esophagoscopy and bronchoscopy) was performed. Imaging was performed as clinically indicated to rule out metastatic disease.