Radiobiological Modelling of the Therapeutic Ratio for the Addition of Synchronous Chemotherapy to Radiotherapy in Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

This modelling suggests a small therapeutic gain for the use of synchronous chemotherapy instead of radiotherapy dose escalation. This conclusion is dependent on the linear quadratic model and takes no account of late side-effects. This gain would be greater for agents that enhance the mucosal reaction to a lesser degree. This gain may be less when data for radiotherapy dose escalation to smaller high dose volumes using intensity-modulated radiotherapy are considered.