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SU‐D‐201‐07: Exploring the Utility of 4D FDG‐PET/CT Scans in Design of Radiation Therapy Planning Compared with 3D PET/CT: A Prospective Study
Author(s) -
Ma C,
Yin Y
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.4923915
Subject(s) - contouring , nuclear medicine , radiation therapy , medicine , radiation treatment planning , radiation oncologist , lung volumes , lung cancer , dosimetry , pet ct , positron emission tomography , lung , radiology , computer science , computer graphics (images)
Purpose: A method using four‐dimensional(4D) PET/CT in design of radiation treatment planning was proposed and the target volume and radiation dose distribution changes relative to standard three‐dimensional (3D) PET/CT were examined. Methods: A target deformable registration method was used by which the whole patient's respiration process was considered and the effect of respiration motion was minimized when designing radiotherapy planning. The gross tumor volume of a non‐small‐cell lung cancer was contoured on the 4D FDG‐PET/CT and 3D PET/CT scans by use of two different techniques: manual contouring by an experienced radiation oncologist using a predetermined protocol; another technique using a constant threshold of standardized uptake value (SUV) greater than 2.5. The target volume and radiotherapy dose distribution between VOL3D and VOL4D were analyzed. Results: For all phases, the average automatic and manually GTV volume was 18.61 cm3 (range, 16.39–22.03 cm3) and 31.29 cm3 (range, 30.11–35.55 cm3), respectively. The automatic and manually volume of merged IGTV were 27.82 cm3 and 49.37 cm3, respectively. For the manual contour, compared to 3D plan the mean dose for the left, right, and total lung of 4D plan have an average decrease 21.55%, 15.17% and 15.86%, respectively. The maximum dose of spinal cord has an average decrease 2.35%. For the automatic contour, the mean dose for the left, right, and total lung have an average decrease 23.48%, 16.84% and 17.44%, respectively. The maximum dose of spinal cord has an average decrease 1.68%. Conclusion: In comparison to 3D PET/CT, 4D PET/CT may better define the extent of moving tumors and reduce the contouring tumor volume thereby optimize radiation treatment planning for lung tumors.