For SPECT-CT Guided Treatment of the Contralateral Neck in Oropharyngeal Cancer Wednesday, March 17, 2021 The SPECT-CT Guided ELEctive Contralateral Neck Treatment in Lateralized Oropharyngeal Cancer (SELECT): The Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial CCTG HN11 has successfully received $3,203,435 in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in the Fall Research competition. This planned trial (HN11) proposes to compare the effectiveness of two types of radiation treatments for Oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) to evaluate if Lymphatic mapping with Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT-CT) imaging can help reduce the volume of radiation for these types of patients. Oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) is one of the most common types of head and neck cancer and ninth most common cancer in Canadian men. The primary treatment for these patients is radiation therapy to both the gross and micropscipc disease in both sides of the neck. Only 15% of these patients have gross cancerous lymph nodes on the opposite side of the neck, but treating both sides increases the risk of swallowing impairment, dry mouth, temporary feeding tube insertion. SPECT-CT imaging may help to identify whether there is a risk for spread to the opposite side of the neck and, if so, the specific areas that are at risk. Researchers anticipate that personalized treatment based on lymphatic mapping will provide similar cancer control but will reduce side effects and improve quality of life compared to routinely treating both sides of the neck. During the study they will also be evaluating the cost-effectiveness of this new approach and expect that it will offer a safe, effective, and cost-effective standard of care to patients in Canada and across the world. Read the full story.
