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Side Effects of Oral/Throat Irradiation Skipping treatments and delaying the over-all time to complete treatment will decrease the chance of controlling the cancer (go here). New radiation techniques (e.g. IMRT) are exploring ways to lower the radiation doses to critical areas typical techniques are as noted from SKM and RTOG0522 and RTOG0615 The area treated is critical to side effects. If just the larynx (vocal cord cancer) is being treated the symptoms may be mild (skin irritation, hoarseness and slight sore throat.) If a large area of the mouth is treated (including the saliva glands and teeth) then the patient may have considerable side effects (particularly if combined with chemotherapy) and a much higher risk of long term problems (e.g. permanent dryness and increased risk for dental problems.) Efforts are made to shield the parotid glands to less than 26Gy (go here) which may cause less dryness (go here).
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