I could not disagree with John N's doctors more. At the end of treatment there should be a set of baseline scans done. These are normally head and neck and a spiral CT of the chest / lungs. They confirm that the cancer has been removed, and give you a starting reference for all future scans. Late stage 3 and 4 patients get these repeated at 6 months. In between all this, doctors are visually and manually palpating the mouth and neck monthly at first, then quarterly between scans. These doctors are not considering that recurrence in surrounding tissues may not be palpable or visible to the naked eye, but would be large enough to be caught (at a significantly earlier time) by PET and other scanning technology, mets and spread to boney structures cannot be seen with the naked eye, palpated, or found by any other means than scanning, and they are a common progression of the disease after the first occurrence and treatment. Early mets to the cervical nodes will light up a PET scan and later a CT long before they are palpable...ditto the often rapid recurrences found in the aero digestive tract including the esophagus, lungs, and stomach. If these guys can find all this without scanning technology, then their hands and eyes should be insured by Lloyd's of London. Follow up scans are a required routine, commonly accepted by most major cancer centers at regular intervals after the first occurrence. Certainly annually would be the minimum. This protocol has been discussed here before, and most articulately by Gary's postings. Use the search feature to find them.