Unilateral versus bilateral irradiation in squamous cell head and neck cancer in relation to patient-rated xerostomia and sticky saliva

Both technique and MDparb influence the risk of xerostomia in irradiated patients. Of all individual salivary glands, only MDparcl is of utmost importance for xerostomia. The shift in the P50 observed for xerostomia suggests that sparing of the contralateral parotid gland is compensated by hyperfunction of the contralateral parotid gland.