[Radiation therapy for head and neck cancer]

Radiation therapy is the first choice of treatment for most of the early squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Conventional radiotherapy however, contributes to the high local control rates only for carcinoma of the glottic larynx and the nasopharynx. Squamous cell carcinoma of the other sites cannot be sterilized easily only by external beam radiation therapy alone. Chemoradiotherapy, conformal three-dimensional radiotherapy and multi-daily fractionation are introduced clinically to improve local control and/or survival for radioresistant tumor. In this review, consensus report of radiation therapy for carcinoma of the larynx and pharynx, which was reached an agreement in JASTRO meeting in 1998, is introduced. The role of radiation therapy in the management of head and neck cancer in present and near future is also discussed.