I'll add my 2 cents.

I had 9 weeks of Induction Chemo (IC) followed by 7 weeks of concurrent chemoradiation treatment (CRT). I'm talking here about the CRT.

In my CRT, they gave me weekly doses of carboplatin and taxotere along with daily doses of IMRT (2 Gy per day, 72 Gy total). They tried to schedule the chemo early in the week, so it would be followed by at least 3 doses of IMRT before the week was out. The theory explained to me is that the chemo differentially sensitizes fast-growing cells to radiation; thus, the fast-growing cells would more easily die from the radiation than the slower-growing cells.

Cancer cells are among the fastest-growing cells, followed by the cells that line your mucous membranes, followed by hair cells, and then a host of slower-growing cells. Consequently, for any given dose/level of radiation, concurrent CRT is more likely to kill your cancer (along with your mucous membranes) than radiation alone. Fortunately, your normal cells (like those in your mucous membrane) will grow back in a few weeks.

Hope that helps, Rob