Mapping of sentinel lymph node drainage using SPECT/CT to tailor elective nodal irradiation in head and neck cancer patients (SUSPECT-2): a single-center prospective trial

Table 1 Schedule of assessments

	Baseline	During RT	Follow-up
			1st year^a				2nd year^a	3rd-5th year^a
			12w^a	6 m^a	9 m^a	12 m^a	every 4 m	every 6 m
Standard of care:
Physical examination	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Flexible endoscopy	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
Toxicity	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
QoL-questionnaire	x		x	x	x	x	until 18th month^a
US-FNAC	x		x	x	x	x	when indicated
CT or MRI^b	x		x	when indicated
FDG-PET	x		when indicated
Investigation under anesthesia	x		when indicated
RT planning CT	x
Extra in SUSPECT-2:
Signed informed consent	x
Tracer injection and SPECT/CT	x
Contralateral SNP	only when contralateral drainage is visualized on SPECT/CT

^aAfter end of radiotherapy
^bAccording to our institutional guidelines, patients with oral cavity or oropharyngeal tumor are staged by MRI, while laryngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors are staged by CT
Abbreviations: w weeks, m months, RT radiotherapy, US-FNAC ultrasound-fine needle aspiration cytology, SNP sentinel node procedure

ISSN: 1471-2407