July 29, 2008 - Lung cancer presents a special challenge to clinicians attempting to evaluate the effectiveness of radiation treatment and determine the total dose of radiation received by the tumor and surrounding tissues.

The reason is simple: lung tumors change position as an individual breathes during medical scans. This unavoidable movement of the lungs makes it difficult to accurately assess tumor volume (particularly in the very small malignant nodules that are more treatable if detected early) and track any changes in size that may have resulted from treatment.

Issam M. El Naqa, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, and his colleagues have devised a novel solution. Their semi-automated system combines two types of computer algorithms previously only used separately to process data from computerized tomography (CT) scans of the lungs.

So-called deformable regression algorithms are used to create a consistent set of coordinates on which tumor position and size can be mapped over the course of treatment, and segmentation algorithms allow tumors to be precisely located and distinguished from other lung tissue (or "segmented") in CT images. El Naqa and his colleagues, realizing that "both approaches could significantly benefit from the results of the other algorithm if coupled in the same framework," created a new program that does just that.

El Naqa, who has tested the combination algorithm in a preliminary study of four people with non-small cell lung cancer, says that the method provides more accurate and consistent results for tracking tumor changes. He says the technique "would allow us to learn more about tumor response to treatment and potentially be used in treatment adaptation," or, perhaps, in the pre-planning of treatment strategies that would reduce the overall levels of toxic radiation received by people undergoing radiotherapy for lung cancer.

For more information: www.aapm.org

Source: American Association of Physicists in Medicine


Related Content

News | Radiation Oncology

May 2, 2025 — GE HealthCare has announced an intended expansion of its radiation oncology portfolio as well as the ...

Time May 03, 2025
arrow
News | Radiology Education

April 21, 2025 — On June 20, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) will award Life Member status to ...

Time April 21, 2025
arrow
News | Radiology Business

April 16, 2025 — According to a new report, the U.S. Radiotherapy Market is projected to reach $2.49 billion by 2030 ...

Time April 17, 2025
arrow
News | ASTRO

March 14, 2025 — Another pivotal milestone in the nation’s fight against cancer recently took place with the ...

Time March 17, 2025
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

Royal Philips recently received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its detector-based ...

Time November 13, 2024
arrow
News

Aug. 5, 2024 — Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have demonstrated that adding ...

Time August 09, 2024
arrow
News | PET-CT

July 31, 2024 — In a head-to-head comparison with FDG PET/CT, FDG PET/MRI demonstrated comparable or superior diagnostic ...

Time July 31, 2024
arrow
Feature | Radiation Oncology | By Christine Book

News emerging from several leading organizations and vendors in the radiation therapy arena came in at a fast pace in ...

Time July 30, 2024
arrow
News | Radiation Oncology

July 11, 2024 — The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) issued the following statement from Jeff M ...

Time July 11, 2024
arrow
News | Radiation Oncology

July 9, 2024 — Insights from the latest Mordor Intelligence report, “Radiotherapy Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth ...

Time July 09, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now