SPECT-CT Guided ELEctive Contralateral Neck Treatment in Lateralized Oropharyngeal Cancer

Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) is the most common type of head and neck cancer. The current standard treatment for this cancer is radiotherapy (RT) of the tumour and lymph nodes of both sides of the neck, combined with concurrent chemotherapy for advanced stages. Even though a small proportion of patients with this cancer have involvement of the lymph nodes of the neck on the opposite side of the tumour (contralateral involvement) or involvement of the lymph nodes on both sides of the neck (bilateral involvement), bilateral radiotherapy is performed due to the risk of contralateral microscopic involvement, which is invisible on imaging and clinical examination. Bilateral radiotherapy causes more adverse events, leading to a decrease in quality of life. Lymphatic mapping using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography-Computed Tomography (SPECT-CT) imaging is a technique that visualises the lymphatic drainage of the tumour and thus determines whether radiotherapy should be delivered unilaterally or bilaterally to the lymph nodes. This technique would therefore reduce adverse events and improve quality of life, while maintaining the efficacy of radiotherapy. The goal of the clinical trial SELECT-FR is to investigate if the efficacy of a lymphatic drainage mapping with a SPECT-CT-guided approach is acceptable in terms of two-year Disease Free Survival (DFS) rate in patients with lateralized OPC.

NCT Number	NCT07241273
Lead Sponsor	UNICANCER Collaborators: National Cancer Institute, France
Conditions	Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Oropharyngeal Cancers, Oropharyngeal Carcinoma, Head and Neck, Head and Neck Cancer, Head and Neck Cancers
Enrollment	128 participants
Start Date	2026-09
Primary Completion	2030-09 (estimated)
Study Completion	2031-09 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-07-21