 "OCF Kiwi Down Under" Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: Mar 2011 Posts: 1,024 | The lymph node will be included in the radiation field. Most times this will be all that is required. Should the node light up on the post treatment plan then they can do a neck dissection. This is what happened for Kris. He had a modified radical neck dissection 5 months post rads to remove a lymph node that lit up on the PET. Pathology just showed a necrotic ( dead ) node with no evidence of cancer. Be guided by your team at Your treatment centre.
Tammy
Caregiver/advocate to Husband Kris age 59@ diagnosis
DX Dec '10 SCC BOT T4aN2bM0 HPV+ve.Cisplatin x3 35 IMRT.
PET 6/11 clear.
R) level 2-4 neck dissection 8/1/11 to remove residual node - necrotic with NED
Feb '12 Ca back.. 3/8/12 total glossectomy/laryngectomy/bilat neck dissection/partial pharyngectomy etc. clear margins. All nodes negative for disease. PEG in.
March 2017 - 5 years disease free. Woohoo!
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