Post-treatment imaging appearances in head and neck cancer patients

Abstract

Surgery and radiotherapy (with or without chemotherapy) for head and neck cancer can create a daunting array of radiological appearances post-treatment. The role of the radiologist lies not only in detecting recurrent neoplastic disease, but also identifying non-neoplastic changes that may account for clinical presentation and symptoms in this patient group. There are a number of non-neoplastic as well as neoplastic changes and disease entities that can present on surveillance imaging, such as primary resection and reconstructive surgical change, surgical neck dissection changes, radionecrosis, post-treatment denervation change, and radiotherapy-related secondary tumours. Some of these require conservative management, while others require more active treatment. Awareness and recognition of the imaging appearances of these post-treatment changes is therefore critical for the radiologist involved in the multidisciplinary care of the head and neck cancer patient.