Methods for Analysis and Reporting the Patterns of Locoregional Failure in the Era of IMRT for Head and Neck Cancer: Deformable Image Registration–Based Quality Assurance Workflow

Abstract

The accurate and specific reporting of the exact site of loco-regional failure after intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) of head and neck cancer in addition to the dose given to this site is mandatory to identify the possible causes of failure. Our aim is to develop a workflow methodology to accurately define the area of recurrent/persistent disease relative to the original planning target volumes (TVs) and prescribed radiation doses using a validated deformable image registration (DIR) software.