Correlation between delivered radiation doses to the brainstem or vestibular organ and nausea & vomiting toxicity in patients with head and neck cancers – an observational clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: Today intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) can be considered the standard of care in patients with head and neck tumors. IMRT treatment plans are proven to reduce acute treatment related side effects by optimal sparing of organs at risk (OAR). At the same time, areas that were out of the former 3D fields now receive low radiation doses. Amongst those areas the brainstem (BS) and the vestibular system (VS) are known to be physiologically connected to nausea and vomiting (NV). In our study we tried to find out, if doses to these areas are linked to NV. MATERIAL & METHODS: NV were assessed at different time points during treatment in 26 patients leading to 98 documented toxicity scores that were later correlated to dose deposition in the described areas. Patients were either treated with normo-fractionated or simultaneously integrated boost IMRT plans in a curative approach. Subareas of the BS as well as the VS were delineated. Toxicity was rated based on the common toxicity criteria (CTCAE Version 4.0). Other factors such as age, gender, chemotherapy, location of the tumor, irradiated volume and unilateral dose to the VS were taken into account and analyzed also. RESULTS: The majority (65.4%) of our patients experienced an episode of NV at least once during treatment. NV was more frequent when treating the oropharyngeal region compared to the hypopharyngeal region, as well as when patients were female and/ or of a younger age. Nevertheless, upon statistical analysis (ROC analysis, ‘within/ between analysis’) no significant association between delivered doses to subareas and toxicity could be demonstrated. CONCLUSION: In our analysis, no significant correlation between radiation dose to the BS or the VS and the occurrence of NV could be found. Therefore, until conclusive data are available, we recommend to rely on the published data regarding OAR tolerance within the BS and not to compromise on dose coverage. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13014-017-0846-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.