|
Head & Neck Cancer
:Treatment Follow-Up
Treatment for head and neck cancer may involve surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, depending on the stage of the cancer when it is first found. Aggressive cancer treatment may affect normal cells as well as cancer cells, giving patients a variety of symptoms in the follow-up period.This is also where PET can help. PET is the most useful test that you can have when doctors are staging or re-staging your cancer because it is more accurate than CT or any other test. PET can show if the new symptoms are a result of changes from the radiation therapy or due to a growth.
Imaging with PET is also critical to looking for the return of the cancer. In many patients with head and neck cancers, a mass may remain after treatment. The mass itself may be visible on a CT scan, but CT cannot determine if the tumor has been successfully treated or if residual cancer remains that must be treated. PET can be used to image tumor response to therapy and to detect recurrence in successfully treated lesions. For post surgery and other treatments, PET is extremely important for monitoring if the cancer cells have returned and if treatment should be re-started.
Call Care Imaging at 905-712-9500 if you have head and neck cancer and would like to discuss whether PET could be useful in your care.
Next: 
Previous:
 |
 |
 |
|
