The head and neck region has a complex loco-regional anatomy being the connection between the brain and the thorax as well as the ingress for the aero-digestive system. In addition to this it also serves as a first line of defense to many of the insults experienced by the aero-digestive system. It is not surprising therefore that this is the site for various malignancies.
Malignant disorders of this region have a tendency to spread along the fat spaces between the fascial planes, lymph nodes and the perineurium of cranial nerves. It is important to remember that even so called benign tumors like nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, meningioma, neurofibroma, schwannoma can spread in addition to almost all malignant neoplasms.
As the radiation oncologist will work with imaging like CT/PET/MRI the following sections give links to these resources that may be used to refresh your pre MD training in the loco-regional anatomy with special emphasis on these issues.
Anatomy Resources