When it comes to treating head and neck tumors, the more information that is available, the better. In the past, options for investigating these types of tumors and their aggressiveness were limited. But advances in optical imaging, positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescent and ultrasound imaging have some otolaryngologists excited about the prospect of getting a better look at head and neck cancer.
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April 2011“I think all of us surgeons are frustrated when we see patients and we treat them with what we think is a very good treatment paradigm only to see them not do as well as we think they should do for reasons that we really don’t understand,” said Mark Wax, MD, professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. “I think all of us are excited by all of the time and all of the research that’s going on that may … allow us to stratify our patients into different treatment paradigms that will decrease their morbidity and increase their chances for good functional outcomes.”
PET/MR
A scanner that combines the molecular imaging of PET and magnetic resonance (MR) was recently approved for commercial use in Europe and is expected to become available soon in the U.S., possibly later this year.