Radioterapia de intensidad modulada: resultados preliminares de los primeros pacientes atendidos en Cuba

introduction: the intensity modulated radiotherapy (imrt) is a current technique where the beam radiations intensity to irradiate the tumoral tissue and to decrease at maximum the dose received by healthy tissues. the institute of oncology and radiobiology (inor), pioneer in the use of this technique in latin america, offers its preliminary results. methods: a prospective study was conducted in 31 patients diagnosed with a head and neck tumor treated with radiotherapy of modulated intensity from may, 2008 to may, 2010. results: ages of patients included in present study were between 45-70 years with a mean of 58 years. there was predominance of male sex for a 87%. the clinical stages locally advances were the more frequent. with the use of this technique there was not interruption of treatment from toxicities or significant complications. the 89 % of patients maintain controlled its diseases and only 4 of them had relapses: three in a loco-regional way and another one at distance. the more frequent complications during the treatment were the radio-mucositis, dysphagia and dysphonia, but in general were tolerated by patients with the supply of support treatment. the xerostomia wa not present in these patients due to in the planning of technique the parotid glands are protected like risk organs (ro). conclusions: the great loco-regional control of tumor and the decrease of complications during treatment indicates the superiority of the technique.