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Radiotherapy volume delineation using 18F-FDG-PET/CT modifies gross node volume in patients with oesophageal cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Evidence supporting the use of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in the segmentation process of oesophageal cancer for radiotherapy planning is limited. Our aim was to compare the volumes and tumour lengths defined by fused PET/CT vs. CT simulation.

Materials and methods

Twenty-nine patients were analyzed. All patients underwent a single PET/CT simulation scan. Two separate GTVs were defined: one based on CT data alone and another based on fused PET/CT data. Volume sizes for both data sets were compared and the spatial overlap was assessed by the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC).

Results

The gross tumour volume (GTVtumour) and maximum tumour diameter were greater by PET/CT, and length of primary tumour was greater by CT, but differences were not statistically significant. However, the gross node volume (GTVnode) was significantly greater by PET/CT. The DSC analysis showed excellent agreement for GTVtumour, 0.72, but was very low for GTVnode, 0.25.

Conclusions

Our study shows that the volume definition by PET/CT and CT data differs. CT simulation, without taking into account PET/CT information, might leave cancer-involved nodes out of the radiotherapy-delineated volumes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Oncology Department, St. Lucia University General Hospital, Cartagena, Spain

    E. Jimenez-Jimenez & J. Salinas

  2. Medical Physics Department, Clinica IMQ Zorrotzaurre, Bilbao, Spain

    P. Mateos

  3. Radiation Oncology Department, Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    N. Aymar, R. Roncero, I. Ortiz & J. Pardo

  4. Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    M. Gimenez

  5. Radiation Oncology Department, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Albacete, Spain

    S. Sabater

Authors
  1. E. Jimenez-Jimenez
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  2. P. Mateos
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  3. N. Aymar
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  4. R. Roncero
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  5. I. Ortiz
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  6. M. Gimenez
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  7. J. Pardo
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  8. J. Salinas
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  9. S. Sabater
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Jimenez-Jimenez.

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Conflict of interest

No conflict of interest of any author.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutitional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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As this study is retrospective study, formal content is not required.

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Jimenez-Jimenez, E., Mateos, P., Aymar, N. et al. Radiotherapy volume delineation using 18F-FDG-PET/CT modifies gross node volume in patients with oesophageal cancer. Clin Transl Oncol 20, 1460–1466 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-018-1879-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-018-1879-3

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