Prevention of radiation induced xerostomia by surgical transfer of submandibular salivary gland into the submental space.

Background And Purpose: Xerostomia is a significant morbidity of radiation treatment in the management of head and neck cancers. We hypothesized that the surgical transfer of one submandibular salivary gland to the submental space, where it can be shielded from radiation treatment (XRT), would prevent xerostomia.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a prospective Phase II clinical trial and the patients were followed clinically with salivary flow studies and the University of Washington Quality of Life questionnaire.