Acute and long-term complications of therapeutic radiation for skull base tumors

Acute toxicity from radiation of skull base tumors typically resolves spontaneously within days-to-weeks after completion of therapy. Long-term complications have a latency of months-to-years after radiation and are usually reversible. Use of conformal radiation techniques with image guidance may result in improved tumor control by allowing delivery of higher radiation doses to the tumor, while maintaining an acceptable level of risk for chronic toxicity. Symptoms resulting from chronic radiation toxicity are indistinguishable from symptoms caused by tumor progression. Diagnosis of late-term radiation complication must be made only after verifying that the tumor has not progressed.