Dose De-escalation to the Elective Nodal Sites in Head and Neck Cancer

• Study hypothesis

Dose de-escalation in the elective nodal sites and off-target regions of the swallowing apparatus delivered by IMRT does reduce overall rate of late dysphagia and neck fibrosis comparing to the standard dose to the elective nodal sites.

• Primary endpoint

To estimate the difference in overall rate of late dysphagia and neck fibrosis 1 year after the end of radiotherapy in patients receiving dose de-escalation to the elective nodal sites and off-target regions of the swallowing apparatus applying IMRT.

• Secondary endpoints

Local, regional and distant control Recurrence and site of recurrence Overall, disease-free and disease-specific survival Acute toxicity Quality of life

Inclusion criteria

oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx SCC Histolocervical lymph node metastases of unknown primary cancer Primary unresectable tumor and/or patients refused surgery Stage T2-4; T3-4 N0 Tany N1-3 for laryngeal cancer Karnofsky performance status ≥70% Age ≥ 18 years old

Exclusion criteria

Treatment combined with brachytherapy Prior irradiation to the head and neck region History of prior malignancies, except for cured non-melanoma skin cancer, curatively treated in-situ carcinoma of the cervix or other cancer curatively treated and with no evidence of disease at least 5 years Distant metastases Pregnant or lactating women Patient unlikely to comply with the protocol, i.e. uncooperative attitude, inability to return for follow-up visits, and unlikely to complete the study.