Recent advances in radiation therapy of head and neck cancer

The major advances in radiation oncology in this century was the development of megavoltage radiation in the 1950s, which greatly expanded the clinical utility of ionizing radiation in the treatment of many forms of cancer, including cancers of the head and neck. The combination of radiation and surgery for improved control of local and regional cancers followed. The use of interstitial implant therapy is growing rapidly because of new materials and techniques, thus expanding the radiotherapeutic options available to the oncologist. Investigations into several other therapeutic modalities currently are being carried out. These modalities include the use of particle radiation, oxygen-mimicking drugs, and hyperthermia, primarily in efforts to overcome the need for the oxygen effect in tumors. New uses of chemotherapy in combination with radiation also are being explored. Details of these activities within the field of radiation oncology are discussed.