Effect of fractionated radiotherapy on salivary gland function

CancerPublished 1 November 1972Open access

C.‐M. Eneroth, Carl O. Henrikson, P. Jakobsson

DOI10.1002/1097-0142(197211)30:5<1147::aid-cncr2820300502>3.0.co;2-0

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Citations117

SJR quartileQ1

SJR score2.95

SNIP1.90

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TL;DR

The size of irradiated parotid glands was found to be unchanged at the end of the irradiation period despite the pronounced disturbance of the salivary secretion rate at this time, and it was not possible to identify a critical dose level giving a pathologically low salivARY secretion.

Abstract

The effect of fractionated radiotherapy on salivary gland function was studied by sialography and sialometry of parotid glands in four patients irradiated with 4000 or 6400 rads for malignant tumors of the head and neck region. Sialography was performed at the beginning and end of the irradiation period and 8 months later. By sialometry, the salivary secretion rate was determined after each irradiation treatment (a daily dose of 200 rads) during the whole treatment period and again 8 months later. The size of the glands was found to be unchanged at the end of the irradiation period despite the pronounced disturbance of the salivary secretion rate at this time. Thus it can be stated that the size of irradiated parotid glands is not a criterion of their function as in the case of normal glands. It was not possible to identify a critical dose level giving a pathologically low salivary secretion. Even after high doses in fractionated radiotherapy, a recovery of the parotid gland function has been found. Parotid glands on the “non-tumor” side were irradiated with a dose of between 400 and 600 rads, and these small doses did not cause a reduction of salivary secretion rate below normal variation.

Keywords

Medicine

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Three types of dental defects develop when salivary glands of patients with carcinomas are irradiated.

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The study showed that the best predictor of secretory capacity of the parotid gland is its size, which is so great that a meaningful assessment of the results of sialometric studies is not possible without taking this variable into account.

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It was shown that the variation between the individuals in the size of the parotid glands was very large and that the distribution of the values was approximately normal and that a sure difference in size between the right and left glands should be regarded as abnormal.

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26 Citations1969Sune Ericson

The result shows that the correlation coefficients between parotid flow at rest and during gustatory and cholinergic stimulation are either very low or even negative, indicating that the underlying factors governing the secretion rate may vary in whole or in part with the applied stimulus.