Post-radiation primary hypothyroidism in patients with head and neck cancer: External validation of thyroid gland dose-volume constraints with long-term endocrine outcomes.

Background: Post-radiation primary hypothyroidism is a common late complication in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors. No radiation dose-volume constraint of the thyroid gland has been externally validated for predicting long-term thyroid function outcomes.

Materials And Methods: This external validation study evaluated the diagnostic properties of 22 radiation dose-volume constraints of the thyroid gland proposed in the literature.