Neck dissection, surgery, definitive radiation: all depends on what type of head and neck cancer the patient has, stage, nodal involvement, histology, etc. HPV +: definitive radiation. Oral cavity: if surgery can get it all that is best, but depending on size and other factors, radiation is often recommended anyway.

Now I am talking like I have had years of experience, and I have not!
I feel years older, wiser since my initial treatment last fall, though.

My follow-up radiation treatment was not as heavy a dose as if radiation had been the only treatment, so there is the trade-off, although I had to have chemo as well, all for such a small lesion and one lymph node. Still well worth it as I believe it was the best treatment for what I had.

Anne