PET Scans in Patients With Head And Neck Cancer Who Are Undergoing 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy And Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed head and neck cancer

  • No nasopharyngeal or paranasal sinus cancer
  • Locally advanced disease (T3 or T4)
  • Not in complete remission
• Planning to undergo curative radiotherapy (minimum dose of 66 Gy), with or without standard treatment (i.e., platinum-based chemotherapy or biological therapy/rituximab)
• Measurable tumor according to RECIST criteria

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• WHO performance status 0-2
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Able to lie still for 1 hour
• No history of progressive neoplastic disease
• No known hypersensitivity to fludeoxyglucose F18 or any of its excipients

• No severe or uncontrolled systemic disease, including any of the following:

  • Kidney disease
  • Liver disease
  • Cardiac disease
  • Unstable or uncompensated respiration
  • Uncontrolled diabetes (i.e., glucose ≥ 1.5 g/L)
• No geographical, social, or psychological conditions that make follow-up impossible

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• No prior surgery
• No concurrent experimental agents