Radiotherapy Planning In Patients Research Articles

167 Incorporating Functional Lung Imaging (FLI) Into Radiation Therapy Planning in Patients with Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

167 Incorporating Functional Lung Imaging (FLI) Into Radiation Therapy Planning in Patients with Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Systematic endoscopic staging of mediastinum to guide radiotherapy planning in patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (SEISMIC): an international, multicentre, single-arm, clinical trial

Systematic mediastinal lymph node staging by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) improves accuracy of staging in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, patients with locally advanced NSCLC commonly undergo only selective lymph node sampling. This study aimed to determine the proportion of patients with locally advanced NSCLC in whom systematic endoscopic mediastinal staging identified PET-occult lymph node metastases, and to describe the consequences of PET-occult disease on radiotherapy planning. This prospective, international, multicentre, single-arm, international study was conducted at seven tertiary lung cancer centres in four countries (Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the USA). Patients aged 18 years or older with suspected or known locally advanced NSCLC underwent systematic endoscopic mediastinal lymph node staging before combination chemoradiotherapy or high-dose palliative radiotherapy. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants with PET-occult mediastinal lymph node metastases shown following systematic endoscopic staging. The study was prospectively registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12617000333314. From Jan 30, 2018, to March 23, 2022, 155 patients underwent systematic endoscopic mediastinal lymph node staging and were eligible for analysis. 58 (37%) of patients were female and 97 (63%) were male. Discrepancy in extent of mediastinal disease identified by PET and EBUS-TBNA was observed in 57 (37% [95% CI 29-44]) patients. PET-occult lymph node metastases were identified in 18 (12% [7-17]) participants, including 16 (13% [7-19]) of 123 participants with clinical stage IIIA or cN2 NSCLC. Contralateral PET-occult N3 disease was identified in nine (7% [2-12]) of 128 participants staged cN0, cN1, or cN2. Identification of PET-occult disease resulted in clinically significant changes to treatment in all 18 patients. In silico dosimetry studies showed the median volume of PET-occult lymph nodes receiving the prescription dose of 60 Gy was only 10·1% (IQR 0·1-52·3). No serious adverse events following endoscopic staging were reported. Our findings suggests that systematic endoscopic mediastinal staging in patients with locally advanced or unresectable NSCLC is more accurate than PET alone in defining extent of mediastinal involvement. Standard guideline-recommended PET-based radiotherapy planning results in suboptimal tumour coverage. Our findings indicate that systematic endoscopic staging should be routinely performed in patients with locally advanced NSCLC being considered for radiotherapy to accurately inform radiation planning and treatment decision making in patients with locally advanced NSCLC. None.

Added value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging in deep learning-based prediction of local recurrence in grade 4 adult-type diffuse gliomas patients

Local recurrences in patients with grade 4 adult-type diffuse gliomas mostly occur within residual non-enhancing T2 hyperintensity areas after surgical resection. Unfortunately, it is challenging to distinguish non-enhancing tumors from edema in the non-enhancing T2 hyperintensity areas using conventional MRI alone. Quantitative DCE MRI parameters such as Ktrans and Ve convey permeability information of glioblastomas that cannot be provided by conventional MRI. We used the publicly available nnU-Net to train a deep learning model that incorporated both conventional and DCE MRI to detect the subtle difference in vessel leakiness due to neoangiogenesis between the non-recurrence area and the local recurrence area, which contains a higher proportion of high-grade glioma cells. We found that the addition of Ve doubled the sensitivity while nonsignificantly decreasing the specificity for prediction of local recurrence in glioblastomas, which implies that the combined model may result in fewer missed cases of local recurrence. The deep learning model predictive of local recurrence may enable risk-adapted radiotherapy planning in patients with grade 4 adult-type diffuse gliomas.

Swin Transformer-based automatic delineation of the hippocampus by MRI in hippocampus-sparing whole-brain radiotherapy.

This study aims to develop and validate SwinHS, a deep learning-based automatic segmentation model designed for precise hippocampus delineation in patients receiving hippocampus-protected whole-brain radiotherapy. By streamlining this process, we seek to significantly improve workflow efficiency for clinicians. A total of 100 three-dimensional T1-weighted MR images were collected, with 70 patients allocated for training and 30 for testing. Manual delineation of the hippocampus was performed according to RTOG0933 guidelines. The SwinHS model, which incorporates a 3D ELSA Transformer module and an sSE CNN decoder, was trained and tested on these datasets. To prove the effectiveness of SwinHS, this study compared the segmentation performance of SwinHS with that of V-Net, U-Net, ResNet and VIT. Evaluation metrics included the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Jaccard similarity coefficient (JSC), and Hausdorff distance (HD). Dosimetric evaluation compared radiotherapy plans generated using automatic segmentation (plan AD) versus manual hippocampus segmentation (plan MD). SwinHS outperformed four advanced deep learning-based models, achieving an average DSC of 0.894, a JSC of 0.817, and an HD of 3.430 mm. Dosimetric evaluation revealed that both plan (AD) and plan (MD) met treatment plan constraints for the target volume (PTV). However, the hippocampal Dmax in plan (AD) was significantly greater than that in plan (MD), approaching the 17 Gy constraint limit. Nonetheless, there were no significant differences in D100% or maximum doses to other critical structures between the two plans. Compared with manual delineation, SwinHS demonstrated superior segmentation performance and a significantly shorter delineation time. While plan (AD) met clinical requirements, caution should be exercised regarding hippocampal Dmax. SwinHS offers a promising tool to enhance workflow efficiency and facilitate hippocampal protection in radiotherapy planning for patients with brain metastases.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MRI in Radiotherapy Planning in Patients with Intermediate-Risk Meningioma.

While contrast-enhanced MR imaging is the criterion standard in meningioma diagnosis and treatment response assessment, gallium 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging has increasingly demonstrated utility in meningioma diagnosis and management. Integrating 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging in postsurgical radiation planning reduces the planning target volume and organ-at-risk dose. However, 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging is not widely implemented in clinical practice due to higher perceived costs. Our study analyzes the cost-effectiveness of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging for postresection radiation therapy planning in patients with intermediate-risk meningioma. We developed a decision-analytical model based on both recommended guidelines on meningioma management and our institutional experience. Markov models were implemented to estimate quality-adjusted life-years (QALY). Cost-effectiveness analyses with willingness-to-pay thresholds of $50,000/QALY and $100,000/QALY were performed from a societal perspective. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to validate the results. Model input values were based on published literature. The cost-effectiveness results demonstrated that 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging yields higher QALY (5.47 versus 5.05) at a higher cost ($404,260 versus $395,535) compared with MR imaging alone. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio analysis determined that 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging is cost-effective at a willingness to pay of $50,000/QALY and $100,000/QALY. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses showed that 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging is cost-effective at $50,000/QALY ($100,000/QALY) for specificity and sensitivity values above 76% (58%) and 53% (44%), respectively. 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging as an adjunct imaging technique is cost-effective in postoperative treatment planning in patients with meningiomas. Most important, the model results show that the sensitivity and specificity cost-effective thresholds of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR imaging could be attained in clinical practice.

Inguinal nodal clinical target volume delineation based on analysis of anatomical locations of normal and metastatic lymph nodes in pelvic malignant tumors

PurposeTo optimize inguinal nodal clinical target volume (CTV) delineation based on analysis of the anatomical locations and embryonic development of normal and metastatic inguinal lymph nodes (ILNs) in patients with pelvic malignant tumors, including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, and anal tumors. Materials and methodsOne hundred and eighty-one patients with pelvic malignancies and 415 involved ILNs treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy were selected. First, the inguinal nodal CTV was divided into three fields as follows: I, horizontal superficial inguinal field; II, vertical superficial inguinal field; and III, deep inguinal field. Initial CTV delineation of each field was based on analysis of the anatomical locations and embryonic development of normal ILNs. Subsequently, the positions of metastatic ILNs relative to the proper anatomical landmarks or vessels were determined to optimally delineate the final ILN CTV contours. Eighty percent of the data acquired (n = 145) were used as test data for optimization and analysis, the remaining 20% (n = 36) were used for delineation validation. ResultsIn total, 252 positive ILNs in 103 cervical cancer patients, 94 positive ILNs in 41 vulvar cancer patients, 8 positive ILNs in 3 vaginal cancer patients, and 61 positive ILNs in 34 anal cancer patients were enrolled. Detailed target volume contouring guidelines for the three divisions were determined on images. All positive ILNs from the remaining 20% patients were located in the CTV boundaries delineated based on analysis of 80% of the data acquired. Importantly, the final inguinal nodal CTV field determined using our method was substantially smaller than defined by existing atlases, and the femoral vessels were excluded in the delineation. ConclusionsThis study provided anatomical, embryonic, surgical, and statistical evidence to facilitate ILN CTV delineation in radiotherapy planning for patients with pelvic malignancies.

Commentary: Using 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET for Postoperative Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Planning in Patients With Meningioma: A Case Series.

*Department of Radiation Oncology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; ‡Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA Correspondence: Tony J. C. Wang, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 622 W 168th St, New York, NY10032, USA. Email: [email protected]

Using 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET for Postoperative Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Planning in Patients With Meningioma: A Case Series.

For patients with either an incompletely resected meningioma or recurrence after surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery is frequently used. MRI is typically used for stereotactic radiosurgery targeting, but differentiating tumor growth from postoperative change can be challenging. 68 Ga-DOTATATE, a positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer targeting the somatostatin receptor type 2, has been shown to be a reliable meningioma biomarker. To evaluate the impact of 68 Ga-DOTATATE on treatment planning in patients who had previously undergone meningioma resection. We present a consecutive case series of 12 patients with pathology-proven meningioma who received a 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET between April 2019 and April 2021. Treatment planning was performed first using MRI. DOTATATE-PET images were then used to assess accurate tumor identification. Ten patients had WHO Grade 2 meningioma, and 2 patients had Grade 1 tumor. Eight patients had recurrent meningiomas, and 4 patients had newly diagnosed disease. Overall, 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET scans altered previously formulated treatment plans in 5 of 12 patients. In addition, 9 of 12 patients had disease foci not appreciated on MRI. In this series, incorporating 68 Ga-DOTATATE PET imaging had clinical utility for most patients in whom it was used. It proved particularly adept in demonstrating intraosseous meningiomas, differentiating recurrence from postoperative changes, and identifying subcentimeter disease foci. It is an imaging modality that our center will continue to use as a means of improving postoperative treatment plans after the surgical resection of meningiomas.

Integrating Preoperative Computed Tomography and Clinical Factors for Lymph Node Metastasis Prediction in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Feature-Wise Attentional Graph Neural Network

This study aimed to propose a regional lymph node (LN) metastasis prediction model for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) that can learn and adaptively integrate preoperative computed tomography (CT) image features and nonimaging clinical parameters. Contrast-enhanced CT scans taken 2 weeks before surgery and 20 clinical factors, including general, pathologic, hematological, and diagnostic information, were collected from 357 patients with ESCC between October 2013 and November 2018. There were 999 regional LNs (857 negative, 142 positive) with pathologically confirmed status after surgery. All LNs were randomly divided into a training set (n=738) and a validation set (n=261) for testing. The feature-wise attentional graph neural network (FAGNN) was composed of (1) deep image feature extraction by the encoder of 3-dimensional UNet and high-level nonimaging factor representation by the clinical parameter encoder; (2) a feature-wise attention module for feature embedding with learnable adaptive weights; and (3) a graph attention layer to integrate the embedded features for final LN level metastasis prediction. Among the 4 models we constructed, FAGNN using both CT and clinical parameters as input is the model with the best performance, and the area under the curve (AUC) reaches 0.872, which is better than manual CT diagnosis method, multivariable model using CT only (AUC=0.797), multivariable model with combined CT and clinical parameters (AUC=0.846), and our FAGNN using CT only (AUC=0.853). Our adaptive integration model improved the metastatic LN prediction performance based on CT and clinical parameters. Our model has the potential to foster effective fusion of multisourced parameters and to support early prognosis and personalized surgery or radiation therapy planning in patients with ESCC.

Impact of SSTR PET on Inter-Observer Variability of Target Delineation of Meningioma and the Possibility of Using Threshold-Based Segmentations in Radiation Oncology.

Simple SummaryDifferences in tumor segmentations between radiation oncologists is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in radiation therapy planning. This study investigated the influence of additional functional information from somatostatin receptor PET imaging on the inter observer variability in the delineation of meningioma. Further, this study assessed the usability of a simple thresholding approach for lesion delineation. It could be shown, that additional PET information was able to significantly reduce the inter observer variability. The threshold based delineation approach required a relatively low threshold value and showed only moderate agreement with the radiation oncologists.Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of including somatostatin receptor agonist (SSTR) PET imaging in meningioma radiotherapy planning by means of changes in inter-observer variability (IOV). Further, the possibility of using threshold-based delineation approaches for semiautomatic tumor volume definition was assessed. Patients and Methods: Sixteen patients with meningioma undergoing fractionated radiotherapy were delineated by five radiation oncologists. IOV was calculated by comparing each delineation to a consensus delineation, based on the simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) algorithm. The consensus delineation was used to adapt a threshold-based delineation, based on a maximization of the mean Dice coefficient. To test the threshold-based approach, seven patients with SSTR-positive meningioma were additionally evaluated as a validation group. Results: The average Dice coefficients for delineations based on MRI alone was 0.84 ± 0.12. For delineation based on MRI + PET, a significantly higher dice coefficient of 0.87 ± 0.08 was found (p < 0.001). The Hausdorff distance decreased from 10.96 ± 11.98 mm to 8.83 ± 12.21 mm (p < 0.001) when adding PET for the lesion delineation. The best threshold value for a threshold-based delineation was found to be 14.0% of the SUVmax, with an average Dice coefficient of 0.50 ± 0.19 compared to the consensus delineation. In the validation cohort, a Dice coefficient of 0.56 ± 0.29 and a Hausdorff coefficient of 27.15 ± 21.54 mm were found for the threshold-based approach. Conclusions: SSTR-PET added to standard imaging with CT and MRI reduces the IOV in radiotherapy planning for patients with meningioma. When using a threshold-based approach for PET-based delineation of meningioma, a relatively low threshold of 14.0% of the SUVmax was found to provide the best agreement with a consensus delineation.

Head-to-Head Comparison of [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46-PET/CT and [18F]F-FDG-PET/CT for Radiotherapy Planning in Head and Neck Cancer

IntroductionIn head and neck cancers (HNCs), fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is expressed by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment. Preliminary evidence suggests that detection and staging is feasible with positron emission tomography (PET/CT) imaging using [68 Ga]-radiolabeled inhibitors of FAP ([68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46) in HNCs. This study aims to compare [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT and [18F]-fluorodeoxy-d-glucose ([18F]F-FDG) PET/CT with a focus on improved target volume definition and radiotherapy planning in patients with HNC referred for chemoradiation.MethodsA total of 15 patients with HNCs received both [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT and [18F]F-FDG PET/CT with a thermoplastic mask, in addition to initial tumor staging by conventional imaging with contrast-enhanced CT and/or MRI. Mean intervals between FAPI/FDG and FAPI/conventional imaging were 4 ± 20 and 17 ± 18 days, respectively. Location and number of suspicious lesions revealed by the different procedures were recorded. Subsequently, expert-generated gross tumor volumes (GTVs) based on conventional imaging were compared to those based on [18F]F-FDG and [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT to measure the impact on subsequent radiation planning.ResultsAll patients had focal FAPI uptake above background in tumor lesions. Compared to FDG, tumor uptake (median SUVmax 10.2 vs. 7.3, p = 0.008) and tumor-to-background ratios were significantly higher with FAPI than with FDG (SUVmean liver: 9.3 vs. 3.2, p < 0.001; SUVmean bloodpool: 6.9 vs. 4.0, p < 0.001). A total of 49 lesions were recorded. Of these, 40 (82%) were FDG+ and 41 (84%) were FAP+. There were 5 (10%) FAP+/FDG− lesions and 4 (8%) FAP−/FDG+ lesions. Volumetrically, a significant difference was found between the GTVs (median 57.9 ml in the FAPI-GTV, 42.5 ml in the FDG-GTV, compared to 39.2 ml in the conventional-GTV). Disease stage identified by FAPI PET/CT was mostly concordant with FDG PET/CT. Compared to conventional imaging, five patients (33%) were upstaged following imaging with FAPI and FDG PET/CT.ConclusionWe demonstrate that [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46 -PET/CT is useful for detecting tumor lesions in patients with HNCs. There is now a need for prospective randomized studies to confirm the role of [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT in relation to [18F]F-FDG PET/CT in HNCs and to evaluate its impact on clinical outcome.

Cluster model incorporating heterogeneous dose distribution of partial parotid irradiation for radiotherapy induced xerostomia prediction with machine learning methods

Purpose A cluster model incorporating heterogeneous dose distribution within the parotid gland was developed and validated retrospectively for radiotherapy (RT) induced xerostomia prediction with machine learning (ML) techniques. Methods Sixty clusters were obtained at 1 Gy step size with threshold doses ranging from 1 to 60 Gy, for each of the enrolled 155 patients with HNC from three institutions. Feature clusters were selected with the neighborhood component analysis (NCA) and subsequently fed into four supervised ML models for xerostomia prediction comparison: support vector machines (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (kNN), naïve Bayes (NB), and random forest (RF). The predictive performance of each model was evaluated using cross validation resampling with the area-under-the-curves (AUC) of the receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC). The xerostomia predicting capacity using testing data was assessed with accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for these models and three cluster connectivity choices. Mean dose based logistic regression served as the benchmark for evaluation. Results Feature clusters identified by NCA fell in three threshold dose ranges: 5–15Gy, 25–35Gy, and 45–50Gy. Mean dose predictive power was 15% lower than that of the cluster model using the logistic regression classifier. Model validation demonstrated that kNN model outperformed slightly other three models but no substantial difference was observed. Applying the fine-tuned models to testing data yielded that the mean accuracy from SVM, kNN and NB models were between 0.68 and 0.7 while that of RF was ∼0.6. SVM model yielded the best sensitivity (0.76) and kNN model delivered consistent sensitivity and specificity. This is consistent with cross validation. Clusters calculated with three connectivity choices exhibited minimally different predictions. Conclusion Compared to mean dose, the proposed cluster model has shown its improvement as the xerostomia predictor. When combining with ML techniques, it could provide a clinically useful tool for xerostomia prediction and facilitate decision making during radiotherapy planning for patients with HNC.

Evaluation of Hybrid PET/MRI for Gross Tumor Volume (GTV) Delineation in Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases Radiotherapy.

PurposeHybrid PET/MRI has been increasingly incorporated into the practice of radiation oncologists since it contains both anatomical and biological data and may bring about personalized radiation plans for each patient. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of GTV delineation from hybrid PET/MRI compared with that from current-practice MRI during radiotherapy planning in patients with colorectal liver metastases.Patients and MethodsTwenty-four patients (thirty lesions) with colorectal liver metastases were prospectively enrolled in this study. Three physicians delineated the target volume with the most popular delineating methods—the visual method. First of all, differences among the three observers were assessed. The difference and correlation of GTV values obtained by MRI, PET, and hybrid PET/MRI were subjected to statistical analysis afterwards. Finally, the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was calculated to assess the spatial overlap. Based on the value of DSC, we also evaluate the correlation between DSC and tumor size. GTV-MRI was set as a reference.ResultsThere was no significant difference among observers in GTV-MRI (F=0.118, p=0.889), GTV-PET (F=0.070, p=0.933) and GTV-PET/MRI (F=0.40, p=0.961). 83.33% of GTV-PET/MRI and 63.33% of GTV-PET were larger than the reference GTV-MRI. Statistical analysis revealed that GTV-PET/MRI (p<0.001) and GTV-PET (p<0.05) diverged statistically significantly from GTV-MRI. GTV-PET (r=0.992, p<0.001) and GTV-PET/MRI (r=0.997, p<0.001) were significantly related to GTV-MRI. The average DSC value between GTV-MRI and GTV-PET was 0.51 (range 0–0.90) and that between GTV-MRI and GTV-PET/MRI was 0.72 (range 0.42–0.90). There was a positive correlation between the DSC and GTV-MRI (r=0.851, p<0.05).ConclusionWith the database used, there is good agreement among observers. Hybrid PET/MRI in colorectal liver metastases radiotherapy may affect the GTV delineation. Moreover, the overlap degree between GTV-MRI and GTV-PET/MRI is higher and increases with volume.

Assessment of the Quality of the Combined Radiotherapy Plans for Patients with Advanced Cervical Cancer

Purpose: To assess the quality of planning for the combined radiotherapy of patients with advanced cervical cancer (cervical cancer). To assess the impact of taking into account not only the external, but also the internal wall of the organ of risk during contouring on the magnitude of the radiation load on the organ of risk (OR). Estimate the total dose to the OR from the remote and intracavitary components.Material and methods: The planning quality assessment was carried out for three technologies of remote exposure, namely: 3DCRT, IMRT and IMRT in the rotational RapidArc mode. Radiotherapy was performed on linac Clinac iX models (Varian, USA) with photon energy of 6 MeV, intracavitary RT (IRT) — on a MicroSelectron apparatus with a 192Ir source. The calculation was carried out on the treatment planning system Eclipse (Varian, USA) and Oncentra Brachy.Results: The evaluation of the quality of conformal radiotherapy planning was carried out in 69 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer 2b–3b stages according to homogeneity and dose conformance indexes in target volumes and OR in combined radiation therapy programs. The best values of the indices of homogeneity and conformity were obtained with the IMRT technology and 3DCRT. The values of the conformity index CI for PTV for the IMRT technology has advantages in terms of doses to OR. For a group of 94 patients, an analysis of dose loads on the rectum, bladder was carried out with only the external contour of the OR and taking into account the inner wall. For 37 patients, the total values of doses to OR for combined RT were evaluated.Conclusion: The quantitative advantages of homogeneity and conformance indices for the tumor and dose loads in OR of 3D CRT and IMRT technologies for patients with cervical cancer 2b–3b are revealed. We removed from the use of technology RapidArc for this group of patients. The advantages of contouring with or without thickness are not revealed. The contouring for all the mentioned cases of technology can be carried out along the outer contours of the OR.

Phase III randomized trial of PSMA PET prior to definitive radiation therapy for unfavorable intermediate-risk or high-risk prostate cancer [PSMA dRT]: Study protocol NCT04457245.

TPS172 Background: Definitive radiation therapy (dRT) is an effective initial treatment of intermediate-risk (IR) and high-risk (HR) prostate cancer (PCa). Positron emission tomography (PET) using small molecule probes targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA PET) is superior to standard of care imaging (CT, MRI, bone scan) for detecting regional and distant metastatic PCa. PSMA PET thus has the potential to guide primary radiotherapy planning in patients and improve outcomes. The purpose of the present randomized trial is to evaluate the success rate of dRT for IR or HR PCa with and without planning based on PSMA PET. Methods: We will randomize 312 patients to proceed with standard dRT (control Arm 1, n=150), or undergo a PSMA PET scan prior to dRT planning (intervention arm 2, n = 162). In the control arm, dRT will be performed as routinely planned in accordance with initial stratification. In the intervention arm, the treating radiation oncologist can incorporate PSMA PET findings into the RT planning. We assume that approximately 8% of subjects randomized to arm 2 will be found to have M1 disease and thus will be more appropriate candidates for long-term systemic or multimodal therapy, rather than curative intent dRT. PET M1 patients will thus not be included in the analysis of the primary endpoint. The primary endpoint is the success rate of dRT measured as PFS after initiation of dRT. Progression is defined as (whichever occurs first): biochemical recurrence defined as a rise by 2 ng/mL or more above the nadir PSA (defined as the lowest PSA achieved) after radiotherapy with or without short-term hormonal therapy; appearance of metastasis or loco-regional recurrence (diagnosed by any imaging or biopsy); initiation of any new salvage therapy, or death from any cause. Discussion: This is the first randomized phase 3 prospective trial designed to determine whether PSMA PET molecular imaging can improve outcomes in patients with PCa who receive dRT. In this trial the incorporation of PSMA PET may improve the success rate of curative intent radiotherapy in two ways: to optimize patient selection and to personalizes the radiotherapy plan. Clinical trial registration: IND#147591, UCLA IRB #20-000378, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04457245. Clinical trial information: NCT04457245.

Feasibility of Monte-Carlo algorithm in comparison with collapse-cone dose calculation algorithm of a commercial treatment planning system in the presence of high-density metallic implant: a dosimetric study

BackgroundThe number of people with implanted hip prosthesis has grown worldwide. For radiotherapy planning of patients with hip implants, few main challenges are encountered. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of different planning algorithms in the presence of high-density metallic implant in the treatment of patients with carcinoma cervix.ResultsIt was found that D98% were 44.49 ± 0.11, 44.51 ± 0.13, 44.39 ± 0.22, and 44.45 ± 0.16 Gy for 4FMC6MV (4-field technique calculated with Monte-Carlo algorithm and 6 MV photon energy), 4FMC6MV_WP (4-field technique calculated with Monte-Carlo algorithm and 6 MV photon energy without prosthesis), 4FCC6MV (4-field technique calculated with collapse-cone-convolution algorithm and 6 MV photon energy), and 4FCC6MV_WP (4-field technique calculated with collapse-cone-convolution algorithm and 6 MV photon energy without prosthesis) respectively. Similarly, D2% were 49.40 ± 0.84, 49.05 ± 0.76, 48.97 ± 0.91, and 48.57 ± 0.85 Gray (Gy) for 4FMC6MV, 4FMC6MV_WP, 4FCC6MV, and 4FCC6MV_WP respectively. The present study has not suggested any major difference between the Monte-Carlo (MC) and collapse-cone-convolution (CCC) calculation algorithm in the presence of high-Z metallic implants. Volume of bowel receiving 15 Gy dose has shown a significant difference with prosthesis cases. This study investigates that hip prosthesis creates considerable changes in the treatment planning of cervical malignancies.ConclusionCCC algorithm is in good agreement with MC calculation algorithm in the presence of high-density metallic implants in terms of target coverage and avoidance organ sparing except few parameters.

Dosimetric analysis of normal tissue toxicity in 3D conformal radiotherapy planning with fused PET-CT imaging in non-small cell lung carcinoma

Introduction: The prime modality for inoperable NSCLC is radiation therapy and or chemo-radiation and better results can be achieved by a higher dose of radiation. However dose escalation is difficult due to presence of critical and dose limiting sensitive structures in the vicinity of lung. Therefore success of radiotherapy in such tumors solely depends on the selective delivery of adequate dose to target with minimal irradiation of surrounding structures. The precision in target and normal tissue delineation needs to be achieved. So the aim of this study is to explore the possibility of using fused PET-CT images for accurate target and normal tissue delineation in 3D-conformal radiotherapy planning in patients of carcinoma lung (NSCLC) who are referred to us for radical radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: It’s a hospital based prospective study in which 14(n) cancer patients who had biopsy proven NSCLC and were referred to us for radical radiotherapy. After CT simulation and FDG-hybrid PET data sets were transferred to CMS planning system. The co-registration was done in Focal Pro using an auto fusion, 3D rotation and translation rigid body program, and the fiducial markers. The gross tumor volume (GTV), planning target volume (PTV) and normal tissue parameters were defined using the CT data and PET-CT data. 3D-CRT plans were generated for both CT data and PET-CT data sets and dosimetric analysis was done for same. Results: The mean age was 65 yrs, 78.5% (11) patients are male and 21.5 % (3) are female. The registration of fused images of PET with planning CT scan decreased the gross tumor volume (GTV) in 10 patients (71.42%), decreased volume in 4 patients (28.58%). The 3D-CRT planes were modified in 5patients (35%). CT-PET planning did not reduce the radiation fields in all patients. When all constraints of the lung, esophagus, and spinal cord were taken into account, normal tissue exposure was reduced with use of CT-PET. V20 decreased from 31.86% ± 4.17% to

F18] FDG-PET/CT for manual or semiautomated GTV delineation of the primary tumor for radiation therapy planning in patients with esophageal cancer: is it useful?

BackgroundTarget volume definition of the primary tumor in esophageal cancer is usually based on computed tomography (CT) supported by endoscopy and/or endoscopic ultrasound and can be difficult given the low soft-tissue contrast of CT resulting in large interobserver variability. We evaluated the value of a dedicated planning [F18] FDG-Positron emission tomography/computer tomography (PET/CT) for harmonization of gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation and the feasibility of semiautomated structures for planning purposes in a large cohort.MethodsPatients receiving a dedicated planning [F18] FDG-PET/CT (06/2011–03/2016) were included. GTV was delineated on CT and on PET/CT (GTVCT and GTVPET/CT, respectively) by three independent radiation oncologists. Interobserver variability was evaluated by comparison of mean GTV and mean tumor lengths, and via Sørensen–Dice coefficients (DSC) for spatial overlap. Semiautomated volumes were constructed based on PET/CT using fixed standardized uptake values (SUV) thresholds (SUV30, 35, and 40) or background- and metabolically corrected PERCIST-TLG and Schaefer algorithms, and compared to manually delineated volumes.Results45 cases were evaluated. Mean GTVCT and GTVPET/CT were 59.2/58.0 ml, 65.4/64.1 ml, and 60.4/59.2 ml for observers A–C. No significant difference between CT- and PET/CT-based delineation was found comparing the mean volumes or lengths. Mean Dice coefficients on CT and PET/CT were 0.79/0.77, 0.81/0.78, and 0.8/0.78 for observer pairs AB, AC, and BC, respectively, with no significant differences. Mean GTV volumes delineated semiautomatically with SUV30/SUV35/SUV40/Schaefer’s and PERCIST-TLG threshold were 69.1/23.9/18.8/18.6 and 70.9 ml. The best concordance of a semiautomatically delineated structure with the manually delineated GTVCT/GTVPET/CT was observed for PERCIST-TLG.ConclusionWe were not able to show that the integration of PET/CT for GTV delineation of the primary tumor resulted in reduced interobserver variability. The PERCIST-TLG algorithm seemed most promising compared to other thresholds for further evaluation of semiautomated delineation of esophageal cancer.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for radiotherapy planning in patients with lung cancer: a meta-analysis

Functional imaging modalities enable practitioners to identify functional lung regions. This analysis evaluated the feasibility of nuclear medicine imaging to avoid doses to the functional lung in radiotherapy (RT) planning for patients with lung cancer. This systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out according to PRISMA-P guidelines. A search of EMBASE and PubMed for studies published throughout the last 20 years was performed using the following search criteria: (a) ‘lung cancer’ or ‘lung malignancy’ and (b) ‘radiotherapy’ or ‘radiation therapy’ or ‘RT planning’ and (c) ‘SPECT’ or ‘single positron emission computed tomography’ or ‘functional image.’ The analyzed planning parameters were the volumes of the normal lung that have received ≥ 10 Gy and ≥ 20 Gy of radiation (V10 and V20, respectively) and the mean lung dose (MLD). We compared the planning parameters obtained from anatomical RT planning and functional RT planning using perfusion or ventilation imaging (‘V10, V20 or MLD’ in anatomical plan vs. ‘fV10, fV20 or fMLD’ in functional plan). A total of 309 patients with 344 RT plan sets from 15 publications (11 perfusion SPECT, 2 ventilation SPECT, and 1 SPECT and 1 PET with both perfusion and ventilation) were included in the meta-analysis. The standard mean differences in planning parameters in functional plans using nuclear imaging were significantly reduced compared to those of anatomical plans (P < 0.01 for all): − 0.42 (95% confidence interval (CI) − 0.78 to − 0.07) for ‘V10 vs. fV10′, − 0.41 (95% CI − 0.64 to − 0.17) for ‘V20 vs. fV20′, and − 0.24 (95% CI − 0.45 to − 0.03) for ‘MLD vs. fMLD’. In subgroup analysis, the functional plan using perfusion was significantly lower than the anatomical plan in all planning parameters, but there was no significant difference for ventilation. RT planning with nuclear functional lung imaging has potential to reduce radiation-induced lung injury. Perfusion imaging seems to be more promising than ventilation imaging for all planning parameters. There were not enough studies using ventilation imaging to determine what the effect is on the lung plan parameters.

Organ Contouring for Lung Cancer Patients with a Seed Generation Scheme and Random Walks.

In this study, we proposed a semi-automated and interactive scheme for organ contouring in radiotherapy planning for patients with non-small cell lung cancers. Several organs were contoured, including the lungs, airway, heart, spinal cord, body, and gross tumor volume (GTV). We proposed some schemes to automatically generate and vanish the seeds of the random walks (RW) algorithm. We considered 25 lung cancer patients, whose computed tomography (CT) images were obtained from the China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) in Taichung, Taiwan. The manual contours made by clinical oncologists were taken as the gold standard for comparison to evaluate the performance of our proposed method. The Dice coefficient between two contours of the same organ was computed to evaluate the similarity. The average Dice coefficients for the lungs, airway, heart, spinal cord, and body and GTV segmentation were 0.92, 0.84, 0.83, 0.73, 0.85 and 0.66, respectively. The computation time was between 2 to 4 min for a whole CT sequence segmentation. The results showed that our method has the potential to assist oncologists in the process of radiotherapy treatment in the CMUH, and hopefully in other hospitals as well, by saving a tremendous amount of time in contouring.