Longitudinal changes in the carotid arteries of head and neck cancer patients following radiation therapy: Results from a prospective serial imaging biomarker characterization study.

Introduction: We prospectively evaluated morphologic and functional changes in the carotid arteries of patients treated with unilateral neck radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer.
Methods: Bilateral carotid artery duplex studies were performed at 0, 3, 6, 12, 18 months and 2, 3, 4, and 5 years following RT. Intima media thickness (IMT); global and regional circumferential, as well as radial strain, arterial elasticity, stiffness, and distensibility were calculated.
Results: Thirty-eight patients were included. A significant difference in the IMT from baseline between irradiated and unirradiated carotid arteries was detected at 18 months (median, 0.073 mm vs -0.003 mm; P = 0.014), which increased at 3 and 4 years (0.128 mm vs 0.013 mm, P = 0.016, and 0.177 mm vs 0.023 mm, P = 0.0002, respectively). A significant transient change was noted in global circumferential strain between the irradiated and unirradiated arteries at 6 months (median difference, -0.89, P = 0.023), which did not persist. No significant differences were detected in the other measures of elasticity, stiffness, and distensibility.
Conclusions: Functional and morphologic changes of the carotid arteries detected by carotid ultrasound, such as changes in global circumferential strain at 6 months and carotid IMT at 18 months, may be useful for the early detection of radiation-induced carotid artery injury, can guide future research aiming to mitigate carotid artery stenosis, and should be considered for clinical surveillance survivorship recommendations after head and neck RT.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The statistical analysis was supported in part by the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (award number P30 CA016672) and used the Biostatistics Resource Group. EK is supported in part by NIH/NCI 1R01 HL157273 and CPRIT RP200381 both of which are not related to the current work. Dr. Fuller has received unrelated grants/honoraria from Elekta AB, has received travel support from Philips Medical Systems, and has served in an advisory capacity for Siemens Healthineers.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)