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Title: Physiological Imaging-Defined, Response-Driven Subvolumes of a Tumor

Journal Article · · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3]; ;  [2];  [1]
  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (United States)
  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (United States)
  3. Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (United States)

Purpose: To develop an image analysis framework to delineate the physiological imaging-defined subvolumes of a tumor in relating to treatment response and outcome. Methods and Materials: Our proposed approach delineates the subvolumes of a tumor based on its heterogeneous distributions of physiological imaging parameters. The method assigns each voxel a probabilistic membership function belonging to the physiological parameter classes defined in a sample of tumors, and then calculates the related subvolumes in each tumor. We applied our approach to regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and Gd-DTPA transfer constant (K{sup trans}) images of patients who had brain metastases and were treated by whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT). A total of 45 lesions were included in the analysis. Changes in the rCBV (or K{sup trans})–defined subvolumes of the tumors from pre-RT to 2 weeks after the start of WBRT (2W) were evaluated for differentiation of responsive, stable, and progressive tumors using the Mann-Whitney U test. Performance of the newly developed metrics for predicting tumor response to WBRT was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The percentage decrease in the high-CBV-defined subvolumes of the tumors from pre-RT to 2W was significantly greater in the group of responsive tumors than in the group of stable and progressive tumors (P<.007). The change in the high-CBV-defined subvolumes of the tumors from pre-RT to 2W was a predictor for post-RT response significantly better than change in the gross tumor volume observed during the same time interval (P=.012), suggesting that the physiological change occurs before the volumetric change. Also, K{sup trans} did not add significant discriminatory information for assessing response with respect to rCBV. Conclusion: The physiological imaging-defined subvolumes of the tumors delineated by our method could be candidates for boost target, for which further development and evaluation is warranted.

OSTI ID:
22224436
Journal Information:
International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 5; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0360-3016
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English