Head and neck cancer patients that meet the eligibility criteria and singned the informed consent will undergo OCT-measurements before, during and after the course of radiation therapy. At the same time-points the skin areas are evaluated with dermatoscopy and patients are asked to self-assess their quality of life (EORTC QLQ C30 and respective head and neck module H&N 43). Before the onset of radiation therapy radiation sensitivity analysis will be performed with in-vitro irradion of peripheral blood lymphocytes (FISH).
The purpose of this study is to determine whether any eventual skin damage caused by radiation therapy can be detected and monitored at a subclinical level via optical coherence tomography (OCT). Another key question is whether subclinical OCT detected skin damage correlates with acute and late clinical toxicity.