NIMG-28. USE OF NEUROIMAGING TECHNIQUES IN GLIOMA PATIENTS – RESULTS OF AN INTERNATIONAL SURVEY ON BEHALF OF THE EORTC BRAIN TUMOR GROUP

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND Multimodal imaging offers the potential to provide valuable diagnostic information in brain tumor patients. Considering the increasing number and availability of advanced neuroimaging techniques, selecting, and applying the best modality may be therefore difficult. The present survey was carried out to evaluate the preferred use of various neuroimaging applications in patients with glioma. METHODS An online survey with 31 questions was distributed to 262 centers associated with the EORTC located in 34 countries. Subsequently, this survey was promoted by EANO and SNO via social media and newsletters. RESULTS A total of 77 responses, predominantly from radiation oncologists (36%) and neurooncologists (31%), were evaluated. Most responses came from university hospitals and research institutions (68%), mainly from Europe (89%). Almost half of these centers (48%) examined more than 100 glioma patients per year. All institutions had access to MRI, 94% to CT, 67% to PET or PET/CT, and 27% to hybrid PET/MRI. A total of 56% of institutions used RANO criteria for the evaluation of imaging findings. In addition to structural MRI, most institutions routinely performed advanced MRI, followed by CT, PET, and hybrid PET/CT (74%, 42%, 32%, and 23%, respectively). Regarding PET, 64% of centers used the amino acid tracer O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine, followed by 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (45%). Twenty-five percent of centers performed intraoperative MRI, and 10% intraoperative CT. In addition to structural MRI, the preferred additional imaging methods were perfusion-weighted MRI, diffusion-weighted MRI, amino acid PET, and proton MR spectroscopy (83%, 75%, 60% and 56%, respectively). CONCLUSION The results of this international survey provide insights into the use of neuroimaging techniques in neuro-oncology centers. The availability, use, and assessment of neuroimaging in glioma patients varies from country to country. Our results highlight the importance of global activities towards further standardization of neuroimaging in brain tumor patients, such as the RANO working groups.