Comparison of equivalent dose between intensity modulated radiotherapy and conventional radiother-apy for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective To estimate and compare the equivalent dose between the intensity modula-ted radiotherapy (IMRT) and conventional radiotherapy (CR) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods The peripheral equivalent dose of NPC patients was measured by TLD during IMRT and CR. The whole-body equivalent dose was calculated. Results When prescribed tumor dose of 70 Gy was given, the mean number of accelerator output units were 25235 MU and 8575 MU, and the whole-body e-quivalent dose were 73.65 mSy and 15.28 mSy for IMRT and CR, respectively. Conclusion The equiva-lent dose in IMRT is 4.8 times higher than that in CR for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Key words: Nasopharyngeal neoplasms;  Radiotherapy, conventional;  Radiotherapy, intensitymodulated;  Equivalent dose