[Quantitative and qualitative investigations of salivary gland function in dependence on irradiation dose and volume for reduction of xerostomia in patients with head-and-neck cancer].

Background And Purpose: Radiation treatment of head-and-neck tumors mostly leads to a damage to the salivary glands and a consequential permanent loss of saliva. The aim of this investigation was to establish a modern three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) to show a decrease in severe xerostomia in contrast to the proven conventional technique (K-RT) with photons and electrons.

Patients And Methods: Between April 2002 and September 2003, 32 patients (25 male, seven female, mean age: 58 years) with malignant tumors of the head and neck were included-after surgery or in case of inoperability with curative intent-in a prospective, nonrandomized study.