Abstract: Objective　To investigate the long-term effect of radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of early glottic cancer (EGC) in the elderly and its effect on voice acoustics.　Methods　The clinical data of 95 patients with EGC admitted to our hospital from May 2010 to May 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups according to the different treatment methods. Control group (n=46) received the CO2 laser surgery, and study group (n=49) received the radiofrequency ablation. Then various indexes were compared between groups, including operation time, hospitalization time, VAS score, total effective rate, voice acoustics indexes [Jitter, normalized noise energy (NNE), amplitude perturbation (Shimmer)], quality of life (bodily pain, physiological function, general health score), and long-term efficacy (5-year survival rate, local recurrence).　Results　There were no statistical difference in the VAS score between the study group and the control group (P>0.05), and the total effective rate of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). Jitter, NNE and Shimmer in the study group were lower than in the control group (P<0.05). The postoperative quality of life scores in the study group were slightly higher than those in the control group, with no statistic difference (P>0.05). There were no statistical difference in 5-year survival rate and local recurrence rate between the two groups(P>0.05).　Conclusions　The application of radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of EGC in the elderly has the advantages of fast voice recovery, which is worthy of clinical promotion. 

Key words: Radiofrequency ablation, 　Early glottic cancer, 　Long-term outcome, 　Voice acoustics