SW-IMRT Versus ST-IMRT in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer

Swallowing Sparing IMRT (SW-IMRT) Versus Standard Parotid Sparing IMRT (ST-IMRT) in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer

To clinically validate whether SW-IMRT actually reduce the occurrence of swallowing dysfunction as compared to ST-IMRT.

Patients are randomly assigned to either ST-IMRT or SW-IMRT.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with squamous cell carcinoma and requiring whole neck irradiation as a part of either definitive RT alone or in combination with chemotherapy or post-operative RT either alone or in combination with chemotherapy.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous radiotherapy to the head and neck region or prior malignancies, and/or distant metastases.