Molecular PET/CT Imaging-Guided Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning (original) (raw)
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The Role of Imaging in Radiation Therapy Planning: Past, Present, and Future
BioMed Research International, 2014
The use of ionizing radiation for cancer treatment has undergone extraordinary development during the past hundred years. The advancement of medical imaging has been critical in helping to achieve this change. The invention of computed tomography (CT) was pivotal in the development of treatment planning. Despite some disadvantages, CT remains the only three-dimensional imaging modality used for dose calculation. Newer image modalities, such as magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET), are also used secondarily in the treatment-planning process. MR, with its better tissue contrast and resolution than those of CT, improves tumor definition compared with CT planning alone. PET also provides metabolic information to supplement the CT and MR anatomical information. With emerging molecular imaging techniques, the ability to visualize and characterize tumors with regard to their metabolic profile, active pathways, and genetic markers, both across different tum...
Positron Emission Tomography for Radiation Treatment Planning
Strahlentherapie und Onkologie, 2005
Purpose: To evaluate the impact of positron emission tomography (PET) on target volume delineation for radiation treatment planning. Material and Methods: The data of the literature concerning the use of PET in target volume delineation are summarized. The following points are discussed for each tumor entity: biological background for the PET investigation, sensitivity and specificity of PET (with different tracers) in comparison to computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and impact of PET on target volume definition. New PET tracers, which could visualize biological pathways, such as hypoxia, proliferation, angiogenesis, apoptosis and gene expression patterns, will also be discussed. Results: The results of clinical studies on the integration of PET in target volume definition for lung, head-and-neck, genitourinary and brain tumors were analyzed. Fluorodeoxyglucose-(FDG-)PET has a significant impact on GTV (gross tumor volume) and PTV (planning target volume) delineation in lung cancer and can detect lymph node involvement and differentiate malignant tissue from atelectasis. In head-and-neck cancer, the value of FDG-PET for radiation treatment planning is still under investigation. For example, FDG-PET could be superior to CT and MRI in the detection of lymph node metastases and unknown primary cancer and in the differentiation of viable tumor tissue after treatment. Therefore, it might play an important role in GTV definition and sparing of normal tissue. Choline PET and acetate PET are promising tracers in the diagnosis of prostate cancer, but their validity in local tumor demarcation, lymph node diagnosis and detection of recurrence has to be defined in future clinical trials. FDG-PET seems to be particularly valuable in lymph node status definition in cervical cancer. In high-grade gliomas and meningiomas, methionine PET helps to define the GTV and differentiate tumor from normal tissue. For other entities like gastrointestinal cancer, lymphomas, sarcomas, etc., the data of the literature are yet insufficient. The imaging of hypoxia, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, apoptosis and gene expression leads to the identification of different areas of a biologically heterogeneous tumor mass that can individually be targeted using intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). In addition, a biological dose distribution can be generated, the socalled dose painting. However, systematic experimental and clinical trials are necessary to validate this hypothesis. Conclusion: Regarding treatment planning in radiotherapy, PET offers advantages in terms of tumor delineation and the description of biological processes. To define the real impact of this investigation in radiation treatment planning, subsequent experimental, clinical and cost-benefit analyses are required.
Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznań and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology, 2012
Positron emission tomography (PET) with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is a valuable tool for diagnosing and staging malignant lesions. The fusion of PET and computed tomography (CT) yields images that contain both metabolic and morphological information, which, taken together, have improved the diagnostic precision of PET in oncology. The main imaging modality for planning radiotherapy treatment is CT. However, PET-CT is an emerging modality for use in planning treatments because it allows for more accurate treatment volume definition. The use of PET-CT for treatment planning is highly complex, and protocols and standards for its use are still being developed. It seems probable that PET-CT will eventually replace current CT-based planning methods, but this will require a full understanding of the relevant technical aspects of PET-CT planning. The aim of the present document is to review these technical aspects and to provide recommendations for clinical use of this imaging modality...
PET-based treatment planning in radiotherapy: a new standard?
Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 2007
Molecular imaging, in particular, PET, has brought an additional dimension to management for patients with cancer. 18F-FDG, which is the most widely available tracer, has been shown to be of value for the selection of target volumes in radiation oncology. Depending on its sensitivity and specificity, 18F-FDG has been shown to influence the selection of target volumes for non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) or for esophageal tumors. On the other hand, for tumors such as head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and rectal carcinomas, convincing data on the value of 18F-FDG for target volume selection are still lacking. For target volume delineation, given that an adequate method is used for volume segmentation, the added value of 18F-FDG has been demonstrated for HNSCC and NSCLC. For both types of tumors, modifications in target volume delineation translated into differences in dose distribution compared with the results of CT scan-based plans. Studies are in progress for rectal...
Molecular Imaging–Based Dose Painting: A Novel Paradigm for Radiation Therapy Prescription
Seminars in Radiation Oncology, 2011
Dose painting is the prescription of a non-uniform radiation dose distribution to the target volume based on functional or molecular images shown to be indicative of the local risk of relapse. Two prototypical strategies for implementing this novel paradigm in radiation oncology are reviewed: sub-volume boosting and dose painting by numbers. Sub-volume boosting involves the selection of a "target within the target", defined by image segmentation on the basis of the quantitative information in the image or morphologically, and this is related to image based target volume selection and delineation. Dose painting by numbers is a voxel-level prescription of dose based on a mathematical transformation of the image intensity of individual pixels. Quantitative use of images to decide both where and how to delivery radiation therapy in an individual case is also called theragnostic imaging. Dose painting targets are imaging surrogates for cellular or microenvironmental phenotypes associated with poor radioresponsiveness. In this review, the focus is on positron emission tomography (PET) tracers: FDG and choline as surrogates for tumor burden, FLT as a surrogate for proliferation (or cellular growth fraction) and hypoxia sensitive tracers including FMISO, EF3, EF5 and Cu-ATSM as surrogates of cellular hypoxia. Research advances supporting the clinico-biological rationale for dose painting are reviewed as are studies of the technical feasibility of optimizing and delivering realistic dose painted radiation therapy plans. Challenges and research priorities in this exciting research field are defined and a possible design for a randomized clinical trial of dose painting is presented.
PET/CT in Radiation Therapy Planning
Seminars in Nuclear Medicine, 2018
Radiation therapy (RT) is an important component of the management of lymphoma patients. Most lymphomas are metabolically active and accumulate 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Positron emission tomography with computer tomography (PET/CT) imaging using FDG is used routinely in staging and treatment evaluation. FDG-PET/CT imaging is now also used routinely for contouring the target for RT, and has been shown to change the irradiated volume significantly compared with CT imaging alone. Modern advanced imaging techniques with image fusion and motion management in combination with modern highly conformal RT techniques have increased the precision of RT, and have made it possible to reduce dramatically the risks of long-term side effects of treatment while maintaining the high cure rates for these diseases.
Clinical Oncology, 2010
Aims: To analyse the effect of the use of molecular imaging on gross target volume (GTV) definition and treatment management. Materials and methods: Fifty patients with various solid tumours who underwent positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) simulation for radiotherapy planning from 2006 to 2008 were enrolled in this study. First, F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET and CT scans of the treatment site in the treatment position and then a whole body scan were carried out with a dedicated PET/CT scanner and fused thereafter. FDG-avid primary tumour and lymph nodes were included into the GTV. A multidisciplinary team defined the target volume, and contouring was carried out by a radiation oncologist using visual methods. To compare the PET/CT-based volumes with CT-based volumes, contours were drawn on CT-only data with the help of site-specific radiologists who were blind to the PET/CT results after a median time of 7 months. Results: In general, our PET/CT volumes were larger than our CT-based volumes. This difference was significant in patients with head and neck cancers. Major changes (25%) in GTV delineation were observed in 44% of patients. In 16% of cases, PET/CT detected incidental second primaries and metastatic disease, changing the treatment strategy from curative to palliative. Conclusions: Integrating functional imaging with FDG-PET/CT into the radiotherapy planning process resulted in major changes in a significant proportion of our patients. An interdisciplinary approach between imaging and radiation oncology departments is essential in defining the target volumes.