Seventh Interim Progress Report of The British Institute of Radiology fractionation study of 3F/week versus 5F/week in radiotherapy of the laryngo-pharynx

Abstract

A fresh analysis of the data entered into the multicenter BIR fractionation trial of 3 F[fraction]/wk vs. 5 F/wk in radiotherapy of the laryngopharynx has been undertaken. Completed records of the 732 patients initially entered into the trial have now risen from 687 at the last report to 706. The data have been analyzed in a manner similar to that adopted previously so as to measure the effects of the 2 regimes on both tumor and normal tissues, and some additional analyses have now also been made. There have been some modifications in the results in the various sub-groups which may be due to an inadequate number of patients having been followed up for long enough at the time of the previous analyses. More data for late radiation damage to normal tissues and new radiobiological findings have suggested possible explanations for the differences which have emerged between the 2 groups. The apparent differences between the sub-groups containing patients with highly localized tumors, which were reported in a previous report, are now less marked and not statistically significant.