 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | Well they are not part of the NCCN recommended guidelines and my head & neck surgeon doesn't order them either. His position is that the palpation exam will pick up a recurrence faster and more accurately than scans. He was trained at UCSFCCC. We've had numerous discussions about this. I will test the waters again in September when I see the RO.
And I didn't write the guidelines - I just quote 'em. I am a little surprised that they don't recommend a PET/CT for distant mets, since this is a known risk. I did have 2 MRI's post Tx.
Gary Allsebrook
***********************************
Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
________________________________________________________
"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
| 
