The EMINENCE Study - PET/MR Imaging of Head Neck Cancer

Head and neck cancers (HNC) often receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment. However, unacceptable failure rates and severe side effects remain a challenge. The improvements in radiotherapy are closely related to improvements in medical imaging. Functional imaging, where intratumoural characteristics such as tumour oxygenation, metabolism, and blood vessel function can be quantified, offers possibilities to personalize the radiotherapy. In this study we will establish the clinical workflow for PET- and MRI-based radiotherapy in HNC by acquiring images prior to and during radiotherapy to develop new concepts for image-based biologically adaptive radiotherapy, both based on photon-based radiotherapy and also proton therapy, which soon will be available for cancer patients in Norway. The investigators aim to contribute towards further developments of personalised high-precision radiotherapy for HNC patients resulting in improved outcome, reduced side-effects and better quality of life.