Protecting the oral mucosa in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma treated postoperatively with intensity-modulated radiotherapy: A randomized study

Objectives/Hypothesis: Is the severity of acute oral mucositis in patients who receive postoperative intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (PO‐IMRT) for oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) reduced by sparing the oral mucosa outside of the planning target volume (PTV)? Study Design: Prospective, randomized trial. Methods: Forty‐eight patients with oral tongue SCC who received PO‐IMRT at our institution were randomized to two groups: the oral‐sparing (OR‐SP) group and oral‐unsparing (OR‐USP) group. For the OR‐SP group (n = 24), the oral mucosa outside of the PTV was spared. Furthermore, the mucosa including the bilateral cheeks, upper lip, and lower lip was defined as the united site and given