BACKGROUND To evaluate acute toxicity endpoints in a cohort of patients receiving head and neck radiation with proton therapy or intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). METHODS Forty patients received comprehensive head and neck radiation including bilateral cervical nodal radiation, given with or without chemotherapy, for tumors of the nasopharynx, nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses, an...

PURPOSE Radical radiotherapy for head and neck cancer (HNC) may deliver significant doses to brain structures. There is evidence that this may cause a decline in neurocognitive function (NCF). Radiation dose to the medial temporal lobes, and particularly to the hippocampi, seems to be critical in determining NCF outcomes. We evaluated the feasibility of two alternative intensity-modulated radio...

Locoregional failure is the most frequent pattern of failure in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients and it leads to death in most of the patients. Second primary tumors occurring in the other head and neck region reach up to almost 40% of long-term survivors. Recommended and preferred retreatment option in operable patients is salvage surgical resection, reporting a 5-year overall su...

PURPOSE To assess the prevalence and dosimetric and clinical predictors of mandibular osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in patients with head and neck cancer who underwent a pretherapy dental evaluation and prophylactic treatment according to a uniform policy and were treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS Between 1996 and 2005, all patients with head-and-neck canc...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate different homogeneity indices for IMRT of head and neck cancers and to suggest the best representative homogeneity index for quantitative measure of dose homogeneity. In this study 3 different homogeneity indices were evaluated for 22 head and neck cancer patients receiving dynamic IMRT treatments on Clinac-DHX linear accelerator with 6 MV photon beam. ...

Background: Presence of artifacts, caused by dental filling high-Z materials (DFM), on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plan CT images may lead to uncertainty in head and neck calculated dose distributions. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of DFM on the IMRT calculated dose distribution and consequent radiobiological derived outcomes for naso...

BACKGROUND Recurrent head neck cancer (rHNC) is a known unfavourable prognostic condition.The purpose of this work was to analyse our rHNC subgroup treated with salvage-intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for curable recurrence after initial surgery alone. PATIENTS Between 4/2003-9/2008, 44 patients with squamous cell rHNC were referred for IMRT, mean/median 33/21 (3-144) months afte...