Comparison of Planned and Estimated Delivered Dose to the Pharyngeal Constrictor Muscles in Head and Neck Patients

Pharyngeal constrictor muscles (PCMs) play an important role in swallowing function. For head and neck patients receiving radiation therapy (RT), the correlation between radiation doses to these structures and the long term swallowing function has been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any dosimetric differences in the planned versus estimated delivered dose to the PCMs in oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) patients receiving RT. This information would help inform dose-outcome relationships more accurately.