Treatment of cancers of the head and neck, including oropharyngeal tumours, usually consist of a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, although surgery may also play a part. Radiotherapy works by using the high energy x-rays to destroy cancer cells. Head and neck cancers often respond well to radiotherapy in the first instance and a proportion of patients will be cured by this treatment. However, not all of the cancer cells are destroyed by the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and, in some patients, the cancer does come back.