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. 2016 Jun:57:1-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2016.03.006. Epub 2016 Mar 31.

Osteoradionecrosis in patients with salivary gland malignancies

J Rhet Tucker  1 , Li Xu  2 , Erich M Sturgis  2 , Abdallah S R Mohamed  3 , Theresa M Hofstede  1 , Mark S Chambers  1 , Stephen Y Lai  2 , Clifton David Fuller  4 , Beth Beadle  4 , G Brandon Gunn  4 , Katherine A Hutcheson  5
Affiliations

Osteoradionecrosis in patients with salivary gland malignancies

J Rhet Tucker et al. Oral Oncol. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: The present study was undertaken to evaluate osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in patients with salivary gland malignancies (SGM) after treatment with radiation therapy.

Materials and methods: The medical records of 172 patients treated with radiation therapy for SGM during a 12-year period (August 2001 to November 2013) were reviewed. Incidence, time to event, staging and management of ORN were analyzed.

Results: Of the 172 patients, 7 patients (4%) developed ORN (median latency: 19months, range: 4-72months). Of those 7 patients, 4 required major surgery, 1 required hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), one required minor debridement, and one required conservative management. Total prescribed radiation dose varied from 50Gy (1 case) to 70Gy (1 case) among those patients who developed ORN, and radiotherapy was delivered postoperatively after osseous resection in 4 of 7 cases. Three of the 7 cases of ORN occurred after traumatic injury to the bone. Of the 7 patients who developed ORN, 3 had SGM of the major glands, 3 had other sites of the oral cavity, and 1 had a sinonasal location.

Conclusion: While the rate of ORN after radiotherapy for SGM was somewhat lower (4%) than previously published data on patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck treated with radiation therapy (8-14%), ORN necessitating major surgery remains a clinically significant, possible late effect of radiotherapy in SGM survivors. Location of SGM is very important, with cases that developed ORN disproportionally having primary disease arising in the oral cavity.

Keywords: Hyperbaric oxygen; Osteoradionecrosis; Radiation therapy; Salivary gland neoplasm.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Patient screening
Figure 2
Figure 2. Incidence of ORN
Kaplan-Meier estimate of time to ORN after end of radiotherapy.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Sample radiation plans
Case examples comparing radiation plans of a patient treated for a parotid salivary gland malignancy (left) and oral cavity salivary gland malignancy (right). Note difference in dose distributions of the mandibular bone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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