New Yorker, I forgot to add that I had my radiation (and chemo) without having any nodes involved, and already having had my tumor removed with clear margins (although the size of the tumor made me Stage II instead of Stage I). My understanding is what they radiate in these cases is the tissue around where the tumor was removed (margins can look clean but cancer cells can be missed), the base of tongue where cancer cells can travel as well as the pathway of lymph nodes down the neck where cancer might spread (in my case this was done on both sides since my tumor was near the midline of the tongue--on the ide where the tumor had been, I had had the nodes removed but it is always possible cancer cells are still in that pathway from the tumor).

I hope this helps.

Nelie