Treatment toxicity reported in studies using IMRT and chemotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer.

<p>Treatment toxicity reported in studies using IMRT and chemotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer.</p

Acute and late toxicities following intensity-modulated and image-guided radiotherapy for 27 patients with locally advanced laryngeal cancer.

<p>Acute and late toxicities following intensity-modulated and image-guided radiotherapy for 27 patients with locally advanced laryngeal cancer.</p

Dose distribution to target volume and to critical organs at risk for complications following image-guided radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

<p>PTV1: target volume receiving 66 to 70 Gy; PTV2: target volume receiving 59.6 to 63 Gy; PTV3: target volume receiving 54 to 56 Gy; Gy: gray.</p

Treatment toxicity and patient outcome.

<p>Treatment toxicity and patient outcome.</p

Potential advantages and pitfalls of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) compared to 3-dimentional conformal radiotherapy (3-D CRT).

<p>Potential advantages and pitfalls of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) compared to 3-dimentional conformal radiotherapy (3-D CRT).</p

Patient characteristics.

<p>Patient characteristics.</p

Mean pharyngeal dose (Gy) correlation with dysphagia severity or aspiration reported in the literature.

<p>NA: not assessed; QOL: quality of life.</p

Aspiration rate reported in the literature following radiotherapy for non-laryngeal and non-hypopharyngeal head and neck cancer.

<p>C: conventional with two lateral and a supraclavicular field; NS: not specified; IMRT: intensity-modulated radiotherapy; WF: whole-field; SF: split-field; IGRT: image-guided radiotherapy.</p

Dose-volume .histogram in a patient with T3N0M0 supraglottic laryngeal cancer illustrating the potential of image-guided radiotherapy to deliver a high radiation dose to the gross tumor while sparing the radiosensitive normal organs.

<p>Mean tumor dose: 75.4 Gy; mean right parotid dose (light green):11.4 Gy; mean left parotid dose (violet): 11.3 Gy; mean right (dark green) and left (pink) cochlea dose: 2 Gy; maximum mandibular dose (orange): 59.5 Gy; maximum spinal cord dose (light blue): 31.2 Gy. The radiation dose to these normal structures was well below the threshold for normal tissue damage and could potentially improve the patient quality of life after treatment. The red color illustrated radiation dose (70 Gy) to the gross tumor volume (gtv) while the dark blue and green color demonstrated radiation dose to the high risk area (63 Gy) and low risk area (56 Gy) respectively. The brown color illustrated radiation dose to the pharyngeal muscles which was high (mean 67 Gy) because of the close proximity to the gross tumor and may explain the high rate of dysphagia following radiotherapy for locally advanced laryngeal cancer.</p

Patient characteristics.

<p>Patient characteristics.</p