Three dimensional conformal postoperative radiotherapy for unilateral parotid gland cancer: A comparison of three different parotid gland irradiation techniques

Parotid gland cancer; 3DCRT; Postoperative radiotherapy techniques; Dose distribution Abstract Introduction: Postoperative radiotherapy of the parotid gland could be achieved with various radiotherapy techniques. However they irradiate differently the surrounding organs at risk (OARs) in particular the cochlea, oral cavity & contralateral parotid causing significant increase in the risk of oral mucositis, xerostomia, and hearing deficits on the irradiated side. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare radiation doses received by target volume and different surrounding OARs using three different parotid irradiation techniques aiming to achieve the optimum technique which shows adequate target coverage and sparing of surrounding OARs during postoperative 3DCRT treatment of parotid gland cancer patients. Methodology: Ten patients diagnosed as having parotid cancer were included in this study. They were subjected to CT simulation and scans were transferred to the treatment planning system. Target volumes and contralateral parotid, oral cavity, cochlea, spinal cord, brain stem, eyes, lenses and optic nerves were contoured. Three plans were done using (a) ipsilateral oblique wedged photon