IMRT Utilization Increases Dramatically for Health and Neck Cancers From 2000 to 2005

The use of IMRT for head and neck cancer increased in the United States from 1.3 percent of the radiation treatments ordered to treat this disease in 2000 to 46.1 percent in 2005, according to a study in the April issue of Cancer.

Based on a review of Medicare records, 26 percent of the 5,487 patients with head and neck cancer who underwent radiation therapy received IMRT in the five-year period. Ashleigh Guadagnolo, M.D., et al, found that these patients were 68 percent more likely to receive IMRT in 2005 than in 2001.

The rates also significantly varied based on geography, with IMRT accounting for 11.3 percent of the cases in Kentucky to 40.4 percent in Hawaii, the authors stated in “Evaluation of Trends in the use of Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer From 2000 to 2005.” In addition, patients in the lowest quartile of socioeconomic status were 33% less likely to receive IMRT than those in the highest quartile, even when the authors adjusted for the geographic area and year of diagnosis.