Fig. 1

Isodose distributions for the submandibular glands. The 40 Gy and higher isodose distributions for the posterior part of the SMGs and anterior part of the SMGs in patients with NPC who received level Ib-sparing IMRT (a), unilateral level Ib-covering IMRT (b), and bilateral level Ib-covering IMRT (c). CTV-2, blue shadow; GTV-LN, red shadow; 66 Gy isodose, brown line; 60 Gy isodose, orange line; 54 Gy isodose, yellow line; 45 Gy isodose, green line; 40 Gy isodose, blue line