Background: The importance of tumour hypoxia for the outcome of radiotherapy has been
under investigation for decades. Numerous clinical trials modifying the hypoxic
radioresistance in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) have been
conducted, but most have been inconclusive, partly due to a small number of patients in the
individual trial. The present meta-analysis was, therefore, performed utilising the results from
all clinical trials addressing the specific question of hypoxic modification in HNSCC …