Ellen, if you look at the NCCN Treatment Guildlines (available on the OCF main site) you can find the decision tree they recommend for your husband's cancer. This will be subject to your team's recommendations; I remember reading somewhere that if the RO was not happy, that was a strong case for a neck dissection. From what my husband's ENT mentioned, there are other protocols besides the NCCN, but that's a good place to start.