title: Maintained salivary function after brachytherapy in patients with head and neck carcinomas--evaluation using quantitative salivary gland scintigraphy.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not salivary gland dysfunction occurs within the first three months after brachytherapy in patients with head and neck carcinoma. Of the 20 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma included in this study, 11 were treated with brachytherapy and the remaining 9 patients received external irradiation. All the patients underwent a salivary gland scintigraphy before and after radiotherapy. The scintigraphic parameters of each major salivary gland were then compared before and after the radiotherapy. In the brachytherapy group, none of the scintigraphic functional parameters showed a significant change before and after the radiotherapy. In contrast, all of the parameters with the exception of the uptake ratio (UR) of the submandibular glands significantly decreased after external irradiation. This observation was to be expected owing to the different irradiation doses administered by the two techniques. The scintigraphic technique used to evaluate salivary gland function should be used in future intensity-modulated radiation therapy salivary-gland-sparing studies in order to evaluate both the acute and chronic effects of irradiation in head and neck cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. y-murata@fd6.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Winn
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Aung
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taura
authors.forename: Moinul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: Ryo-ichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoshina
authors.forename: Hisahiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akaike
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugaya
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibuya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*