A comparative observation of acute side effects of radiotherapy IMRT and conventional radiotherapy regime for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective: To study the acute side effects on the radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patient using IMRT compared with conventional radiotherapy.Methods: Forty-five nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients were divided into IMRT group(25 patients) and conventional radiotherapy group(20 patients).Face-neck,supracalvicular field,amte-aural field and postaural field were adopted to receive electrons during conventional radiotherapy.Seven to nine conformal fields were adopted during IMRT.The reaction of skin,xerostomia,oral and pharyngeal mucosa were recorded during radiotherapy.Results: The nasopharyngeal and paranasopharyngeal lesions regressed completely after radiotherapy.The reaction of skin was grade I in IMRT group and grade III in conventional radiotherapy group.The reaction of xerostomia was grade I and II in IMRT group and grade III in conventional radiotherapy group.The reaction of oral and pharyngeal mucosa was grade I to II in IMRT group and grade III in conventional radiotherapy group.The reactions were lighter in IMRT group compared with those in conventional radiotherapy group.Conclusion: The radiotherapy using IMRT regime can decrease the reaction of xerostomia,oral and pharyngeal mucosa,skin to complete the radiotherapy course of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.