Adaptive radiotherapy in anatomical changes in head and neck cancer: a systematic review

• Autor(a) principal: Caetano, Marco
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Feliz, Cátia, Cavaquinho, Rute
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.25758/set.592
• topic: Cancro de cabeça e pescoço; Radioterapia adaptativa; Preditores para ART; Estratégias para ART; Head and neck cancer; Adaptive radiotherapy; Predictors for ART; Strategies for ART

Introduction and Objectives – During the treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) with external radiotherapy (ERT) it is possible to occur several anatomical changes. Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) is an emerging technique that prevents changes in patient anatomy and target volume (TV) during ERT treatments by designing adapted dosimetric plans. However, there are no protocols for its implementation. This study aims to study the role/benefit of ART, which patients can benefit from this technique, and the ideal time for ART. Methods – The literature review was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) methodology. A search was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, and the B-on article aggregator website, in the time from January 2016 to January 2021. Two hundred and fifty-two articles were identified. After the exclusion of duplicates and fitting to the exclusion and inclusion criteria, 10 articles are included in the study. Results and Discussion – Through ART, it was possible to decrease xerostomia in most studies. Other side effects were mentioned, but with more heterogeneous conclusions. Concerning disease control, there were no significant differences.  In general, chemoradiotherapy (QRT) was a predictor of the need for ART, as were primary tumors of the nasopharynx and advanced stage. Conclusion – Although no differences in disease control were observed, some side effects decreased due to ART. It was not possible to identify the ideal time for ART due to the heterogeneity of results.