1. Strategies for Protecting Normal Tissue in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer.
- Author
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Markman, Maurie, Adelstein, David J., and Brizel, David M.
- Abstract
Normal tissue tolerance limits the delivery of both ionizing radiation and cytotoxic chemotherapy for virtually all types of cancer including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). The concept of the therapeutic ratio (TR) is fundamental to the understanding of this issue. The TR can be qualitatively defined as the TCP/NTCP where TCP is the tumor control probability and NTCP is the normal tissue complication probability. Both of these parameters have sigmoid dose-response curves Fig.1. The horizontal separation between these two curves for any given treatment will often determine the efficacy of that treatment. As the curves separate from one another, the likelihood increases that treatment will be effective and not cause an unacceptable level of morbidity. Conversely, the closer together these two curves are, the less the likelihood is that treatment will be effective without causing an unacceptable level of morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
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