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IMRT Treatment for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) Is Superior for Relieving Xerostomia, Improving Quality of Life and Protecting the Parotid Glands
Linjun Hu
The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University
Corresponding Author
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This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background: We investigated the effects of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) on xerostomia, quality of life (QoL) and protection of the parotid glands in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) compared to three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT).
Methods: Eighty patients with NPC were enrolled in a prospective randomized clinical study and received IMRT or 3D-CRT. A xerostomia questionnaire (XQ), QoL questionnaire and parotid gland function assessment were completed at baseline and 6 months after radiotherapy.
Results: Xerostomia occurred in both groups after RT, although the XQ scores of the IMRT group were lower and, as a consequence, the QoL scores were higher than in the 3D-CRT group. A correlation analysis showed that there was some correlation between the XQ and QoL scores. After 6 months of RT, the uptake index (UI) and excretion index (EI) decreased by 34.41% and 22.66% in the IMRT group, while in the 3D-CRT group the UI and EI decreased by 54.4% and 41.9%, respectively, and the function of the parotid glands declined.
Conclusions: IMRT better relieved xerostomia and improved the QoL of NPC patients by sparing the parotid glands, without compromising treatment of the target site.
Keywords
IMRT, NPC, Xerostomia, Quality of life, Parotid gland
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research
IMRT Treatment for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) Is Superior for Relieving Xerostomia, Improving Quality of Life and Protecting the Parotid Glands
Linjun Hu
The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University
Corresponding Author
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 05 Jan, 2021
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Oncology
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background: We investigated the effects of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) on xerostomia, quality of life (QoL) and protection of the parotid glands in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) compared to three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT).
Methods: Eighty patients with NPC were enrolled in a prospective randomized clinical study and received IMRT or 3D-CRT. A xerostomia questionnaire (XQ), QoL questionnaire and parotid gland function assessment were completed at baseline and 6 months after radiotherapy.
Results: Xerostomia occurred in both groups after RT, although the XQ scores of the IMRT group were lower and, as a consequence, the QoL scores were higher than in the 3D-CRT group. A correlation analysis showed that there was some correlation between the XQ and QoL scores. After 6 months of RT, the uptake index (UI) and excretion index (EI) decreased by 34.41% and 22.66% in the IMRT group, while in the 3D-CRT group the UI and EI decreased by 54.4% and 41.9%, respectively, and the function of the parotid glands declined.
Conclusions: IMRT better relieved xerostomia and improved the QoL of NPC patients by sparing the parotid glands, without compromising treatment of the target site.
Figure 1
Figure 2