Abstract
Between April 1997 and February 2007, 93 patients with skull base invasion of head and neck tumor were treated by carbon ion radiotherapy. The patients consisted of 51 males and 42 females aged from 23 to 78 years (average age 55.4 years). Histologically, the tumors are classified as follows: 43 with adenoid cystic carcinoma, 23 with malignant mucosal melanoma, 22 with adenocarcinoma, and 5 with other histological types of tumor. Although grade 3 acute reactions in normal tissues of skin and mucosa were appeared 4% and 10%,respectively. The late reactions were grade 2 or less. At the time of analysis, there were no evidence of any serious acute or late reactions.
Five-year local control and overall survival rates were 73% and 39%, respectively. The therapeutic effectiveness of the carbon ion radiotherapy was particularly outstanding for locally advanced non-squamous cell carcinoma which a tumor intractable to photon radiotherapy.
