AHNS SeriesDo you know your guidelines? Guideline recommended follow-up and surveillance of head and neck cancer survivors

In this first article of the Do You Know Your Guidelines series, we review National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommendations and underlying evidence for the follow-up and surveillance of head and neck cancer survivors. The goals of follow-up and surveillance care are (1) to maximize long-term oncologic outcomes of therapy with appropriate evaluation for recurrence, (2) to maximize functional and quality of life outcomes, and (3) minimizing unnecessary and harmful low-value care. Finding the right balance of testing and surveillance is a challenge for providers and patients. Herein, we review all NCCN recommendations for head and neck cancer survivors. We pay particular attention to an area of controversy: the use of ongoing surveillance imaging, in particular, PET/CT scans. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck38: 168-174, 2016