Prevalence and peak incidence of acute and late normal tissue morbidity in the DAHANCA 6&7 randomised trial with accelerated radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

Six fractions per week, resulting in a one-week reduction in overall treatment time relative to conventional radiotherapy increased acute but not late morbidity. Since acceleration improves loco-regional tumour control, the schedule represents a significant improvement of the therapeutic ratio for head and neck radiotherapy and might be close to the maximal gain possible with accelerated fractionation alone.