Oral Oncol
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Radiotherapy (RT) for head and neck cancers causes salivary dysfunction and diminished xerostomia-related quality of life. We have demonstrated that three-dimensional treatment planning and conformational dose-delivery techniques can minimize RT doses to contralateral parotid glands while providing therapeutic doses to tumors. This study's purpose was to assess parotid salivary function up to 1 year post-RT in patients receiving bilateral neck parotid-sparing RT, and to determine if parotid preservation would significantly improve xerostomia-related quality of life. ⋯ Responses at 1 year were markedly better than at the completion of RT, but still significantly worse than baseline. These findings suggest that despite parotid-sparing RT, salivary flow rates from treated and spared glands and xerostomia-related quality of life decrease at the completion of RT. However, with the use of parotid-sparing RT, contralateral glands are preserved at 1 year post-RT with a concomitant improvement in xerostomia-related quality of life.