Most people who've had radiation have a 3 month scan to determine whether they've gotten it all or if there are areas of concern that require close monitoring. It is not too early to have a PET or CT though the PET sometimes gives you false positives. However an experienced Radiologist can usually identify areas that may be cancer. I personally would not wait. I would not want them to do a needle biopsy (I agree that cancer can sometimes crawl along the path of the needle - I would want a scan ASAP. tongue cancer can be persistent and is harder to kill than HPV related BOT cancer and since she didn't have surgery I would be concerned with every day that node is there. Has it gotten larger?
Best of luck.


Cheryl : Irritation - 2004 BX: 6/2008 : Inflam. BX: 12/10, DX: 12/10 : SCC - LS tongue well dif. T2N1M0. 2/11 hemigloss + recon. : PND - 40 nodes - 39 clear. 3/11 - 5/11 IMRT 33 + cis x2, PEG 3/28/11 - 5/19/11 3 head, 2 chest scans - clear(fingers crossed) HPV-, No smoke, drink, or drugs, Vegan