PET/CT in Radiotherapy Planning for Head and Neck Cancer

The use of PET/CT as an adjunct in radiotherapy planning is an attractive option in head and neck cancer (HNC) for several reasons. First, with potentially better identification of the disease extent, i.e., staging, the risk of geographical miss of radiation delivery to the gross tumor volume is reduced. Second, in characterizing the biological behavior of the disease for example, areas of hypoxia, rich or poor vascularity, or high cell proliferation, PET/CT can identify biological target volumes either for escalation of radiation dose or to predict the requirement for the addition of a radiosensitizer or alternative treatment strategies. (18)F-FDG is the most common tracer used in oncology studies, but many other tracers have been investigated with several entering clinical practice, although these remain predominantly in the research domain in HNC.