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Head and Neck Cancers • Radiation Oncology
How has advanced imaging, especially PET/CT, changed your treatment volumes and approach for a head and neck cancer of unknown primary?
For example, much of the data on treatment volumes treating the head and neck with an unknown primary are from the pre-PETCT era. While the positive node location would still dictate the areas treated, would a negative PET change your decision to cover a particular area?
Answer from: Radiation Oncologist at Academic Institution
PET may identify contralateral positive nodes that were negative or borderline on CT and distant Mets not appreciated on chest CT. These account for a small proportion of patients. The false positive rate in the oropharynx is about 35% so not much help there. So, in general, no.
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