Homogeneous irradiation of the "short-necked" laryngeal cancer patient.

A technique for homogeneous irradiation of the "short-necked" laryngeal cancer patient is presented. The method is similar to a previously described technique in that inferiorly angled opposed lateral beams are used with tissue compensators and beam wedges. The advantages of the technique presented here are that the patient is treated supine rather than sitting and therapy simulation is more easily carried out. Experimental verification of the calculated radiation distributions was carried out in a water phantom having the same shape as the patient. These results show the extent of dose homogeneity and in addition show that neglecting tissue inhomogeneity, the measured and calculated dose distributions agree within 2%.