title: Daily subcutaneous amifostine administration during irradiation of pediatric head and neck cancers.
abstract: Five pediatric patients with head and neck cancers were treated with radiotherapy. Subcutaneous injections of 200 mg flat dose amifostine were given 30 min prior to radiation fractions. A total of 129 amifostine injections were done. Grade 3 nausea occurred three times and emesis only once. Hypotension, hypocalcemia, or allergic reactions following injections were not recorded. No grade 3 or 4 mucosal or skin reactions occurred. After 16 months, all patients were alive and disease-free. There were no grade 3 or 4 side effects of radiotherapy on follow-up. Further studies with more patients are required to determine the role of amifostine in pediatric radiation oncology, but these data should contribute to the clinical spectrum of amifostine use in pediatric oncology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Ege University Medical School, Turkey. yanacak@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Yavuz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Anacak
authors.forename: Serra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamer
authors.forename: Ayfer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haydaroglu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004999:Amifostine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D004999:Amifostine