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Smaller radiation dose reduced dry mouth symptoms in certain cancers
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Minimizing radiation dose to the submandibular gland can significantly reduce the symptoms of dry mouth in patients with head and neck cancers, according to study results presented at the 2nd forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology.
“Since the submandibular glands are the main source of saliva in resting conditions, the dose to these glands might have serious implications for the feeling of a dry mouth,” Chris Terhaard, MD, of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, who presented the findings, said in a press release.
“In general, the submandibular gland situated near to the tumor of the throat cannot be spared,” Terhaard said. “So, in this study we tried to spare the submandibular gland on the opposite side. We looked for the correlation between the radiation dose received by this gland and the decrease of the production of saliva.”
Terhaard and colleagues studied 50 participants with non-metastasized throat cancers. The participants were treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy, which allowed the contralateral glands to receive much lower doses of radiation than standard radiotherapy, according to the researchers.
After 6 weeks and after 1 year, researchers measured saliva production and asked participants to complete questionnaires regarding their experiences with dry mouth.
“We found that saliva flows from the contralateral submandibular glands were significantly higher at 6 weeks and at 1 year in patients who received a dose to the submandibular gland of less than 40 Gy, and this translated into fewer complaints for dry mouth. Using the new technique, we managed to keep the dose under 40 Gy in 50% of the patients,” Terhaard said. “Now we are looking for further improvements, since in 50% of the patients the dose to the submandibular glands was still too high.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.