ArticleFrontiers in oncology2026
3D-printed oral stents improve setup stability, geometric morphology, and dosimetric outcomes while reducing functional impairment in radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate whether personalized three-dimensional (3D)-printed intraoral stents improve functional outcomes and setup reproducibility in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) radiotherapy without compromising dosimetric fidelity. Methods: This retrospective study included 99 NPC patients treated with definitive VMAT between January 2023 and December 2024. Patients were divided into stent group (n = 48) who wore 3D-printed intraoral stents during radiotherapy, and control group (n = 51) who received no intraoral device. Radiation-induced toxicities (xerostomia, dysgeusia, dysphagia, hearing loss) were assessed via telephone questionnaire. Interfractional setup reproducibility of organs at risk (OARs) was evaluated using daily cone-beam CT, and dosimetric parameters (D Results: Stent use was significantly associated with reduced incidence and severity of hearing loss, dysgeusia, xerostomia, and dysphagia (all P < 0.05). Interfractional geometric variability of parotids and tongue was significantly reduced in the stent group (P < 0.05), indicating improved geometric stability. Conclusion: Patient-specific 3D-printed intraoral stents confer clinically meaningful benefits in NPC radiotherapy by improving functional preservation and interfractional setup reproducibility. These benefits appear driven by two complementary mechanisms: direct dose sparing of fixed OARs (inner ear) and enhanced geometric stabilization of mobile OARs (tongue, parotids). These findings support integrating such stents into routine practice to reduce toxicity without compromising planned dose delivery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.