Two series of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent surgery for curative purposes were studied. Sixty patients were analyzed prospectively and 71 were analyzed retrospectively for clinical and pathological parameters of prognostic value. Clinical parameters (tumor site, T and N stage, patient age, alcohol and tobacco use, primary tumor or neck surgery) and histological parameters (tumor size, number of metastatic lymph nodes, T and N stage, WHO differentiation, Jakobsson and Glanz malignancy scores) were recorded and analyzed by multivariate analysis to find factors related independently with death from the tumor. In the retrospective study, the presence of positive surgical margins obscured other factors. In the prospective study, T and N stage and the Glanz and Jacobsson scores (in biopsies) were independently related with prognosis. Malignancy grading systems such as those of Jakobsson and Glanz should be included in treatment planning for patients with laryngeal carcinoma.