Results of a multicentre randomised controlled trial of cochlear-sparing intensity-modulated radiotherapy versus conventional radiotherapy in patients with parotid cancer (COSTAR; CRUK/08/004).

Purpose: About 40-60% of patients treated with post-operative radiotherapy for parotid cancer experience ipsilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) can reduce radiation dose to the cochlea. COSTAR, a phase III trial, investigated the role of cochlear-sparing IMRT (CS-IMRT) in reducing hearing loss.

Pharmacological interventions for the prevention of insufficiency fractures and avascular necrosis associated with pelvic radiotherapy in adults.

Background: Pelvic radiotherapy is a treatment delivered to an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 people annually across high-income countries. Fractures due to normal stresses on weakened bone due to radiotherapy are termed insufficiency fractures. Pelvic radiotherapy-related interruption of the blood supply to the hip is termed avascular necrosis and is another recognised complication.