David G Pfister, Sharon Spencer, David M Brizel, Barbara Burtness, Paul M Busse, Jimmy J Caudell, Anthony J Cmelak, A Dimitrios Colevas, Frank Dunphy, David W Eisele, Robert L Foote, Jill Gilbert, Maura L Gillison, Robert I Haddad, Bruce H Haughey, Wesley L Hicks, Ying J Hitchcock, Antonio Jimeno, Merrill S Kies, William M Lydiatt, Ellie Maghami, Thomas McCaffrey, Loren K Mell, Bharat B Mittal, Harlan A Pinto, John A Ridge, Cristina P Rodriguez, Sandeep Samant, Jatin P Shah, Randal S Weber, Gregory T Wolf, Frank Worden, Sue S Yom, Nicole McMillian, Miranda Hughes

These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on recent updates to the 2015 NCCN Guidelines for Head and Neck (H&N) Cancers. These Insights describe the different types of particle therapy that may be used to treat H&N cancers, in contrast to traditional radiation therapy (RT) with photons (x-ray). Research is ongoing regarding the different types of particle therapy, including protons and carbon ions, with the goals of reducing the long-term side effects from RT and improving the therapeutic index. For the 2015 update, the NCCN H&N Cancers Panel agreed to delete recommendations for neutron therapy for salivary gland cancers, because of its limited availability, which has decreased over the past 2 decades; the small number of patients in the United States who currently receive this treatment; and concerns that the toxicity of neutron therapy may offset potential disease control advantages.