Functional image-based radiotherapy planning for non-small cell lung cancer: A simulation study

Evaluation of variables predicting PFT changes for lung cancer patients treated on a prospective 4DCT-ventilation functional avoidance clinical trial

PURPOSE

Functional avoidance radiotherapy uses functional imaging to reduce pulmonary toxicity by designing radiotherapy plans that reduce doses to functional regions of the lung. A phase-II, multi-center, prospective study of 4DCT-ventilation functional avoidance was completed. Pre and post-treatment pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were acquired and assessed pulmonary function change. This study aims to evaluate which clinical, dose and dose-function factors predict PFT changes for patients treated with 4DCT-ventilation functional avoidance radiotherapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

56 patients with locally advanced lung cancer receiving radiotherapy were accrued. PFTs were obtained at baseline and three months following radiotherapy and included forced expiratory volume in 1-second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC. The ability of patient, clinical, dose (lung and heart), and dose-function metrics (metrics that combine dose and 4DCT-ventilation-based function) to predict PFT changes were evaluated using univariate and multivariate linear regression.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis showed that only dose-function metrics and the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were significant (p<0.05) in predicting FEV1 decline. Multivariate analysis identified a combination of clinical (immunotherapy status, presence of thoracic comorbidities, smoking status, and age), along with lung dose, heart dose, and dose-function metrics in predicting FEV1 and FEV1/FVC changes.

CONCLUSION

The current work evaluated factors predicting PFT changes for patients treated in a prospective functional avoidance radiotherapy study. The data revealed that lung dose- function metrics could predict PFT changes, validating the significance of reducing the dose to the functional lung to mitigate the decline in pulmonary function and providing guidance for future clinical trials.

Validation of CT-based ventilation and perfusion biomarkers with histopathology confirms radiation-induced pulmonary changes in a porcine model

Imaging biomarkers can assess disease progression or prognoses and are valuable tools to help guide interventions. Particularly in lung imaging, biomarkers present an opportunity to extract regional information that is more robust to the patient's condition prior to intervention than current gold standard pulmonary function tests (PFTs). This regional aspect has particular use in functional avoidance radiation therapy (RT) in which treatment planning is optimized to avoid regions of high function with the goal of sparing functional lung and improving patient quality of life post-RT. To execute functional avoidance, detailed dose-response models need to be developed to identify regions which should be protected. Previous studies have begun to do this, but for these models to be clinically translated, they need to be validated. This work validates two metrics that encompass the main components of lung function (ventilation and perfusion) through post-mortem histopathology performed in a novel porcine model. With these methods validated, we can use them to study the nuanced radiation-induced changes in lung function and develop more advanced models.

Four-dimensional computed tomography-based ventilation imaging in intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment planning for pulmonary functional avoidance

PURPOSE

To incorporate four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT)-based ventilation imaging into intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning for pulmonary functional avoidance.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Nineteen locally advanced lung cancer patients are retrospectively studied. 4DCT images are employed to create ventilation maps for each patient via a density-change-based algorithm with mass correction. The regional ventilation is directly incorporated into the mathematical formulation of a direct aperture optimization model in IMRT treatment planning to achieve functional avoidance and a voxel-based treatment plan. The proposed functional avoidance planning and voxel-based planning are compared to the conventional treatment planning approach purely based on the anatomy of patients. Paired sample t-tests are conducted to see whether dosimetric differences among the three approaches are significant.

RESULTS

Similar planning target volume (PTV) coverage is achieved by anatomical, functional avoidance, and voxel-based approaches. The voxel-based treatment planning performs better than both functional avoidance and anatomical planning to the lung. For a total lung, the average volume reductions in a functional avoidance plan from an anatomical plan, a voxel-based plan from an anatomical plan, and a voxel-based plan from a functional avoidance plan are 7.0% , 16.8%, and 10.6%, respectively for V₄₀ ; and 0.4%, 6.4%, and 6.0%, respectively for mean Lung Dose (MLD). For a functional lung, the reductions are 8.8% , 17.2%, and 9.2%, respectively, for fV₄₀ ; and 1.1%, 6.2%, and 5.2%, respectively, for functional mean lung dose (fMLD). These reductions are obtained without significantly increasing doses to other organs-at-risk. All the pairwise treatment planning comparisons for both total lung and functional lung are statistically significant (p-value < α = 0.05 $&lt; \alpha =0.05$ ) except for the functional avoidance plan with the anatomical plan pair in which the p-value > α = 0.05 $&gt; \alpha =0.05$ . From these results, we can conclude that voxel-based treatment planning outperforms both anatomical and functional-avoidance planning.

CONCLUSIONS

We propose a treatment planning framework that directly utilizes functional images and compares voxel-based treatment planning with functional avoidance and anatomical treatment planning.

CT-derived vessel segmentation for analysis of post-radiation therapy changes in vasculature and perfusion

Vessel segmentation in the lung is an ongoing challenge. While many methods have been able to successfully identify vessels in normal, healthy, lungs, these methods struggle in the presence of abnormalities. Following radiotherapy, these methods tend to identify regions of radiographic change due to post-radiation therapytoxicities as vasculature falsely. By combining texture analysis and existing vasculature and masking techniques, we have developed a novel vasculature segmentation workflow that improves specificity in irradiated lung while preserving the sensitivity of detection in the rest of the lung. Furthermore, radiation dose has been shown to cause vascular injury as well as reduce pulmonary function post-RT. This work shows the improvements our novel vascular segmentation method provides relative to existing methods. Additionally, we use this workflow to show a dose dependent radiation-induced change in vasculature which is correlated with previously measured perfusion changes (R² = 0.72) in both directly irradiated and indirectly damaged regions of perfusion. These results present an opportunity to extend non-contrast CT-derived models of functional change following radiation therapy.

Functional lung imaging in thoracic tumor radiotherapy: Application and progress

Radiotherapy plays an irreplaceable and unique role in treating thoracic tumors, but the occurrence of radiation-induced lung injury has limited the increase in tumor target doses and has influenced patients’ quality of life. However, the introduction of functional lung imaging has been incorporating functional lungs into radiotherapy planning. The design of the functional lung protection plan, while meeting the target dose requirements and dose limitations of the organs at risk (OARs), minimizes the radiation dose to the functional lung, thus reducing the occurrence of radiation-induced lung injury. In this manuscript, we mainly reviewed the lung ventilation or/and perfusion functional imaging modalities, application, and progress, as well as the results based on the functional lung protection planning in thoracic tumors. In addition, we also discussed the problems that should be explored and further studied in the practical application based on functional lung radiotherapy planning.

Measuring Indirect Radiation-Induced Perfusion Change in Fed Vasculature Using Dynamic Contrast CT

Recent functional lung imaging studies have presented evidence of an “indirect effect” on perfusion damage, where regions that are unirradiated or lowly irradiated but that are supplied by highly irradiated regions observe perfusion damage post-radiation therapy (RT). The purpose of this work was to investigate this effect using a contrast-enhanced dynamic CT protocol to measure perfusion change in five novel swine subjects. A cohort of five Wisconsin Miniature Swine (WMS) were given a research course of 60 Gy in five fractions delivered locally to a vessel in the lung using an Accuray Radixact tomotherapy system with Synchrony motion tracking to increase delivery accuracy. Imaging was performed prior to delivering RT and 3 months post-RT to yield a 28−36 frame image series showing contrast flowing in and out of the vasculature. Using MIM software, contours were placed in six vessels on each animal to yield a contrast flow curve for each vessel. The contours were placed as follows: one at the point of max dose, one low-irradiated (5−20 Gy) branching from the max dose vessel, one low-irradiated (5−20 Gy) not branching from the max dose vessel, one unirradiated (<5 Gy) branching from the max dose vessel, one unirradiated (<5 Gy) not branching from the max dose vessel, and one in the contralateral lung. Seven measurements (baseline-to-baseline time and difference, slope up and down, max rise and value, and area under the curve) were acquired for each vessel’s contrast flow curve in each subject. Paired Student t-tests showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) reductions in the area under the curve in the max dose, and both fed contours indicating an overall reduction in contrast in these regions. Additionally, there were statistically significant reductions observed when comparing pre- and post-RT in slope up and down in the max dose, low-dose fed, and no-dose fed contours but not the low-dose not-fed, no-dose not-fed, or contralateral contours. These findings suggest an indirect damage effect where irradiation of the vasculature causes a reduction in perfusion in irradiated regions as well as regions fed by the irradiated vasculature.

Radiation-induced airway changes and downstream ventilation decline in a swine model

Purpose.To investigate indirect radiation-induced changes in airways as precursors to atelectasis post radiation therapy (RT).Methods.Three Wisconsin Miniature Swine (WMSTM) underwent a research course of 60 Gy in 5 fractions delivered to a targeted airway/vessel in the inferior left lung. The right lung received a max point dose <5 Gy. Airway segmentation was performed on the pre- and three months post-RT maximum inhale phase of the four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) scans. Changes in luminal area (Ai) and square root of wall area (WA) for each airway were investigated. Changes in ventilation were assessed using the Jacobian ratio and were measured in three different regions: the inferior left lung <5 Gy (ILL), the superior left lung <5 Gy (SLL), and the contralateral right lung <5 Gy (RL).Results.Airways (n = 25) in the right lung for all swine showed no significant changes (p = 0.48) in Ai post-RT compared to pre-RT. Airways (n = 28) in the left lung of all swine were found to have a significant decrease (p < 0.001) in Ai post-RT compared to pre-RT, correlated (Pearson R = -0.97) with airway dose. Additionally,WAdecreased significantly (p < 0.001) with airway dose. Lastly, the Jacobian ratio of the ILL (0.883) was lower than that of the SLL (0.932) and the RL (0.955).Conclusions.This work shows that for the swine analyzed, there were significant correlations between Ai andWAchange with radiation dose. Additionally, there was a decrease in lung function in the regions of the lung supplied by the irradiated airways compared to the regions supplied by unirradiated airways. These results support the hypothesis that airway dose should be considered during treatment planning in order to potentially preserve functional lung and reduce lung toxicities.

Functional lung volume mapping with perfusion Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography scan for radiotherapy planning in patients with locally advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVES

Radical chemotherapy-radiotherapy represents the standard treatment for locally-advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Conventional radiotherapy achieves limited local tumor control, but dose escalation to the primary tumor is prevented by radiotherapy-induced toxicity. The aim of this study was to evaluate feasibility of tailored intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) planning based on lung single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) perfusion data and to compare functional and conventional dose-volume parameters.

METHODS

A total of 21 patients were prospectively enrolled. Patients underwent IMRT treatment with 2 Gy/fraction (median total dose of 60 Gy). Lung perfusion SPECT images were acquired before radiotherapy and 3 and 6 months after radiotherapy completion. SPECT and planning computed tomography images were co-registered using MIM-MAESTRO software with 3D-PET Edge algorithm. Lung volumes were defined anatomically as total lung and functionally as total not functional lung and total functional lung. Dose-volume histograms were calculated using QUANTEC constraints [mean lung dose (MLD)<20 Gy, V20<20%]. For each patient, conventional and functional radiotherapy plans were generated and compared.

RESULTS

A total of 19 of 21 patients with NSCLC were included (mean age 66 years, 11 stage IIIA, 8 stage IIIB), 12/19 patients completed the 6-months follow-up. A significant reduction of mean V20 was observed in functional radiotherapy planning compared to conventional plan (405.9 cc, P < 0.001). Mean MLD was also lower in the SPECT-based plans, but the difference was not statistically relevant (0.8 Gy, P = 0.299). G2 radiation pneumonitis was observed in two patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Functional radiotherapy planning allowed to decrease functional lung irradiation compared to conventional planning. The possibility to limit radiotherapy-induced toxicity could allow us to perform an effective dose-escalation to target volume.

Functionally weighted airway sparing (FWAS): a functional avoidance method for preserving post-treatment ventilation in lung radiotherapy

Recent changes to the guidelines for screening and early diagnosis of lung cancer have increased the interest in preserving post-radiotherapy lung function. Current investigational approaches are based on spatially mapping functional regions and generating regional avoidance plans that preferentially spare highly ventilated/perfused lung. A potentially critical, yet overlooked, aspect of functional avoidance is radiation injury to peripheral airways, which serve as gas conduits to and from functional lung regions. Dose redistribution based solely on regional function may cause irreparable damage to the 'supply chain'. To address this deficiency, we propose the functionally weighted airway sparing (FWAS) method. FWAS (i) maps the bronchial pathways to each functional sub-lobar lung volume; (ii) assigns a weighting factor to each airway based on the relative contribution of the sub-volume to overall lung function; and (iii) creates a treatment plan that aims to preserve these functional pathways. To evaluate it, we used four cases from a retrospective cohort of SAbR patients treated for lung cancer. Each patient's airways were auto-segmented from a diagnostic-quality breath-hold CT using a research virtual bronchoscopy software. A ventilation map was generated from the planning 4DCT to map regional lung function. For each terminal airway, as resolved by the segmentation software, the total ventilation within the sub-lobar volume supported by that airway was estimated and used as a function-based weighting factor. Upstream airways were weighted based on the cumulative volumetric ventilation supported by corresponding downstream airways. Using a previously developed model for airway radiosensitivity, dose constraints were determined for each airway corresponding to a <5% probability of airway collapse. Airway dose constraints, ventilation scores, and clinical dose constraints were input to a swarm optimization-based inverse planning engine to create a 3D conformal SAbR plan (CRT). The FWAS plans were compared to the patients' prescribed CRT clinical plans and the inverse-optimized clinical plans. Depending on the size and location of the tumour, the FWAS plan showed superior preservation of ventilation due to airflow preservation through open pathways (i.e. cumulative ventilation score from the sub-lobar volumes of open pathways). Improvements ranged between 3% and 23%, when comparing to the prescribed clinical plans, and between 3% and 35%, when comparing to the inverse-optimized clinical plans. The three plans satisfied clinical requirements for PTV coverage and OAR dose constraints. These initial results suggest that by sparing pathways to high-functioning lung subregions it is possible to reduce post-SAbR loss of respiratory function.

The impact of 4DCT-ventilation imaging-guided proton therapy on stereotactic body radiotherapy for lung cancer

Functional lung avoidance during radiotherapy can help reduce pulmonary toxicity. This study assessed the potential impact of four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT)-ventilation imaging-guided proton radiotherapy (PT) on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) by comparing it with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), which employ photon beams. Thirteen lung cancer patients who received SBRT with 3D-CRT were included in the study. 4DCT ventilation was calculated using the patients' 4DCT data, deformable image registration, and a density-change-based algorithm. Three functional treatment plans sparing the functional lung regions were developed for each patient using 3D-CRT, VMAT, and PT. The prescribed doses and dose constraints were based on the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0618 protocol. We evaluated the region of interest (ROI) and functional map-based dose-function metrics for 4DCT ventilation and the irradiated dose. Using 3D-CRT, VMAT, and PT, the percentages of the functional lung regions that received ≥ 5 Gy (fV5) were 26.0%, 21.9%, and 10.7%, respectively; the fV10 were 14.4%, 11.4%, and 9.0%, respectively; and fV20 were 6.5%, 6.4%, and 6.6%, respectively, and the functional mean lung doses (fMLD) were 5.6 Gy, 5.2 Gy, and 3.8 Gy, respectively. These results indicated that PT resulted in a significant reduction in fMLD, fV5, and fV10, but not fV20. The use of PT reduced the radiation to highly functional lung regions compared with those for 3D-CRT and VMAT while meeting all dose constraints.

A Feasibility Study of Single-inhalation, Single-energy Xenon-enhanced CT for High-resolution Imaging of Regional Lung Ventilation in Humans

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of single-inhalation xenon-enhanced computed tomography (XeCT) to provide clinically practical, high-resolution pulmonary ventilation imaging to clinics with access to only a single-energy computed tomography scanner, and to reduce the subject's overall exposure to xenon by utilizing a higher (70%) concentration for a much shorter time than has been employed in prior studies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted an institutional review board-approved prospective feasibility study of XeCT for 15 patients undergoing thoracic radiotherapy. For XeCT, we acquired two breath-hold single-energy computed tomography images of the entire lung with a single inhalation each of 100% oxygen and a mixture of 70% xenon and 30% oxygen, respectively. A video biofeedback system for coached patient breathing was used to achieve reproducible breath holds. We assessed the technical success of XeCT acquisition and side effects. We then used deformable image registration to align the breath-hold images with each other to accurately subtract them, producing a map of lung xenon distribution. Additionally, we acquired ventilation single-photon emission computed tomography-computed tomography (V-SPECT-CT) images for 11 of the 15 patients. For a comparative analysis, we partitioned each lung into 12 sectors, calculated the xenon concentration from the Hounsfield unit enhancement in each sector, and then correlated this with the corresponding V-SPECT-CT counts.

RESULTS

XeCT scans were tolerated well overall, with a mild (grade 1) dizziness as the only side effect in 5 of the 15 patients. Technical failures in five patients occurred because of inaccurate breathing synchronization with xenon gas delivery, leaving seven patients analyzable for XeCT and single-photon emission computed tomography correlation. Sector-wise correlations were strong (Spearman coefficient >0.75, Pearson coefficient >0.65, P value <.002) for two patients for whom ventilation deficits were visibly pronounced in both scans. Correlations were nonsignificant for the remaining five who had more homogeneous XeCT ventilation maps, as well as strong V-SPECT-CT imaging artifacts attributable to airway deposition of the aerosolized imaging agent. Qualitatively, XeCT demonstrated higher resolution and no central airway deposition artifacts compared to V-SPECT-CT.

CONCLUSIONS

In this pilot study, single-breath XeCT ventilation imaging was generally feasible for patients undergoing thoracic radiotherapy, using an imaging protocol that is clinically practical and potentially widely available. In the future, the xenon delivery failures can be addressed by straightforward technical improvements to the patient biofeedback coaching system.

Changes in Regional Ventilation During Treatment and Dosimetric Advantages of CT Ventilation Image Guided Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Lung Cancer

PURPOSE

Lung functional image guided radiation therapy (RT) that avoids irradiating highly functional regions has potential to reduce pulmonary toxicity following RT. Tumor regression during RT is common, leading to recovery of lung function. We hypothesized that computed tomography (CT) ventilation image-guided treatment planning reduces the functional lung dose compared to standard anatomic image-guided planning in 2 different scenarios with or without plan adaptation.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

CT scans were acquired before RT and during RT at 2 time points (16-20 Gy and 30-34 Gy) for 14 patients with locally advanced lung cancer. Ventilation images were calculated by deformable image registration of four-dimensional CT image data sets and image analysis. We created 4 treatment plans at each time point for each patient: functional adapted, anatomic adapted, functional unadapted, and anatomic unadapted plans. Adaptation was performed at 2 time points. Deformable image registration was used for accumulating dose and calculating a composite of dose-weighted ventilation used to quantify the lung accumulated dose-function metrics. The functional plans were compared with the anatomic plans for each scenario separately to investigate the hypothesis at a significance level of 0.05.

RESULTS

Tumor volume was significantly reduced by 20% after 16 to 20 Gy (P = .02) and by 32% after 30 to 34 Gy (P < .01) on average. In both scenarios, the lung accumulated dose-function metrics were significantly lower in the functional plans than in the anatomic plans without compromising target volume coverage and adherence to constraints to critical structures. For example, functional planning significantly reduced the functional mean lung dose by 5.0% (P < .01) compared to anatomic planning in the adapted scenario and by 3.6% (P = .03) in the unadapted scenario.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated significant reductions in the accumulated dose to the functional lung with CT ventilation image-guided planning compared to anatomic image-guided planning for patients showing tumor regression and changes in regional ventilation during RT.

SPECT V/Q in Lung Cancer Radiotherapy Planning

Curative-intent lung cancer radiation therapy either alone (RT) or combined with immuno-chemotherapy is associated with potential risk of serious radiation-induced lung injury. This review provides a summary of the role of SPECT ventilation perfusion (V/Q) imaging as an emerging adjunct to lung cancer RT planning and treatment dosimetry. Denoted "functional lung avoidance RT" it is hypothesized that preferential dosimetric avoidance of physiologically functional lung may reduce the frequency of radiation-induced lung injury. SPECT V/Q imaging datasets available during the planning process allows the prioritization (or "personalization') of RT dose to minimize the volume of functional lung probabilistically exposed to injurious radiation dose. Selective escalation of target dose and adaptive planning and replanning is also enabled. The emergent importance of the tumor-lung microenvironment and its biologic relationship to local immune effectors in lung cancer provides further incentive to individualize RT planning and delivery. This review examines important normal tissue dosimetric constraints that are part of current standards-of-care and the new dosimetric parameters associated with functional lung avoidance RT. SPECT V/Q has been a valuable tool in investigating the feasibility and efficacy of functional lung avoidance RT but is yet to become main stream due to the lack of large clinical trials. It is encouraging however that functional lung avoidance is feasible in RT dose-target delineation and some of the more promising studies are discussed.

Functional lung imaging in radiation therapy for lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

RATIONALE

Advanced imaging techniques allow functional information to be derived and integrated into treatment planning.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted with the primary objective to evaluate the ability of functional lung imaging to predict risk of radiation pneumonitis. Secondary objectives were to evaluate dose-response relationships on post treatment functional imaging and assess the utility in including functional lung information into treatment planning. A structured search for publications was performed following PRISMA guidelines and registered on PROSPERO.

RESULTS

814 articles were screened against review criteria and 114 publications met criteria. Methods of identifying functional lung included using CT, MRI, SPECT and PET to image ventilation or perfusion. Six studies compared differences between functional and anatomical lung imaging at predicting radiation pneumonitis. These found higher predictive values using functional lung imaging. Twenty-one studies identified a dose-response relationship on post-treatment functional lung imaging. Nineteen planning studies demonstrated the ability of functional lung optimised planning techniques to spare regions of functional lung. Meta-analysis of these studies found that mean (95% CI) functional volume receiving 20 Gy was reduced by 4.2% [95% CI: 2.3: 6.0] and mean lung dose by 2.2 Gy [95% CI: 1.2: 3.3] when plans were optimised to spare functional lung. There was significant variation between publications in the definition of functional lung.

CONCLUSION

Functional lung imaging may have potential utility in radiation therapy planning and delivery, although significant heterogeneity was identified in approaches and reporting. Recommendations have been made based on the available evidence for future functional lung trials.

Radiation Pneumonitis: Old Problem, New Tricks

Radiation therapy is a major treatment modality for management of non-small cell lung cancer. Radiation pneumonitis is a dose limiting toxicity of radiotherapy, affecting its therapeutic ratio. This review presents patient and treatment related factors associated with the development of radiation pneumonitis. Research focusing on reducing the incidence of radiation pneumonitis by using information about lung ventilation, imaging-based biomarkers as well as normal tissue complication models is discussed. Recent advances in our understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying lung injury has led to the development of several targeted interventions, which are also explored in this review.

Modeling Patient-Specific Dose-Function Response for Enhanced Characterization of Personalized Functional Damage

PURPOSE

Functional-guided radiation therapy (RT) plans have the potential to limit damage to normal tissue and reduce toxicity. Although functional imaging modalities have continued to improve, a limited understanding of the functional response to radiation and its application to personalized therapy has hindered clinical implementation. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively model the longitudinal, patient-specific dose-function response in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with RT to better characterize the expected functional damage in future, unknown patients.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography scans were obtained at baseline (n = 81), midtreatment (n = 74), 3 months post-treatment (n = 51), and 1 year post-treatment (n = 26) and retrospectively analyzed. Patients were treated with conventionally fractionated RT or stereotactic body RT. Normalized perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography voxel intensity was used as a surrogate for local lung function. A patient-specific logistic model was applied to each individual patient's dose-function response to characterize functional reduction at each imaging time point. Patient-specific model parameters were averaged to create a population-level logistic dose-response model.

RESULTS

A significant longitudinal decrease in lung function was observed after RT by analyzing the voxelwise change in normalized perfusion intensity. Generated dose-function response models represent the expected voxelwise reduction in function, and the associated uncertainty, for an unknown patient receiving conventionally fractionated RT or stereotactic body RT. Differential treatment responses based on the functional status of the voxel at baseline suggest that initially higher functioning voxels are damaged at a higher rate than lower functioning voxels.

CONCLUSIONS

This study modeled the patient-specific dose-function response in patients with non-small cell lung cancer during and after radiation treatment. The generated population-level dose-function response models were derived from individual patient assessment and have the potential to inform functional-guided treatment plans regarding the expected functional lung damage. This type of patient-specific modeling approach can be applied broadly to other functional response analyses to better capture intrapatient dependencies and characterize personalized functional damage.

Functional-guided radiotherapy using knowledge-based planning

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are two significant challenges when implementing functional-guided radiotherapy using 4DCT-ventilation imaging: (1) lack of knowledge of realistic patient specific dosimetric goals for functional lung and (2) ensuring consistent plan quality across multiple planners. Knowledge-based planning (KBP) is positioned to address both concerns.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A KBP model was created from 30 previously planned functional-guided lung patients. Standard organs at risk (OAR) in lung radiotherapy and a ventilation contour delineating areas of high ventilation were included. Model validation compared dose-metrics to standard OARs and functional dose-metrics from 20 independent cases that were planned with and without KBP.

RESULTS

A significant improvement was observed for KBP optimized plans in V20Gy and mean dose to functional lung (p = 0.005 and 0.001, respectively), V20Gy and mean dose to total lung minus GTV (p = 0.002 and 0.01, respectively), and mean doses to esophagus (p = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

The current work developed a KBP model for functional-guided radiotherapy. Modest, but statistically significant, improvements were observed in functional lung and total lung doses.

Evaluating the Toxicity Reduction With Computed Tomographic Ventilation Functional Avoidance Radiation Therapy

PURPOSE

Computed tomographic (CT) ventilation imaging is a new modality that uses 4-dimensional (4D) CT information to calculate lung ventilation. Although retrospective studies have reported on the reduction in dose to functional lung, no work to our knowledge has been published in which the dosimetric improvements have been translated to a reduction in the probability of pulmonary toxicity. Our work estimates the reduction in toxicity for CT ventilation-based functional avoidance planning.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Seventy previously treated lung cancer patients who underwent 4DCT imaging were used for the study. CT ventilation maps were calculated with 4DCT deformable image registration and a density change-based algorithm. Pneumonitis was graded on the basis of imaging and clinical presentation. Maximum likelihood methods were used to generate normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models predicting grade 2 or higher (2+) and grade 3+ pneumonitis as a function of dose (V5 Gy, V10 Gy, V20 Gy, V30 Gy, and mean dose) to functional lung. For 30 patients a functional plan was generated with the goal of reducing dose to the functional lung while meeting Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0617 constraints. The NTCP models were applied to the functional plans and the clinically used plans to calculate toxicity reduction.

RESULTS

By the use of functional avoidance planning, absolute reductions in grade 2+ NTCP of 6.3%, 7.8%, and 4.8% were achieved based on the mean fV20 Gy, fV30 Gy, and mean dose to functional lung metrics, respectively. Absolute grade 3+ NTCP reductions of 3.6%, 4.8%, and 2.4% were achieved with fV20 Gy, fV30 Gy, and mean dose to functional lung. Maximum absolute reductions of 52.3% and 16.4% were seen for grade 2+ and grade 3+ pneumonitis for individual patients.

CONCLUSION

Our study quantifies the possible toxicity reduction from CT ventilation-based functional avoidance planning. Reductions in grades 2+ and 3+ pneumonitis were 7.1% and 4.7% based on mean dose-function metrics, with reductions as high as 52.3% for individual patients. Our work provides seminal data for determining the potential toxicity benefit from incorporating CT ventilation into thoracic treatment planning.

Evaluating Which Dose-Function Metrics Are Most Critical for Functional-Guided Radiation Therapy

PURPOSE

Four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) ventilation imaging is increasingly being used to calculate lung ventilation and implement functional-guided radiation therapy in clinical trials. There has been little exhaustive work evaluating which dose-function metrics should be used for treatment planning and plan evaluation. The purpose of our study was to evaluate which dose-function metrics best predict for radiation pneumonitis (RP).

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Seventy lung cancer patients who underwent 4D CT imaging and pneumonitis grading were assessed. Pretreatment 4D CT scans of each patient were used to calculate ventilation images. We evaluated 3 types of dose-function metrics that combined the patient's 4D CT ventilation image and treatment planning dose distribution: (1) structure-based approaches; (2) image-based approaches using the dose-function histogram; and (3) nonlinear weighting schemes. Log-likelihood methods were used to generate normal tissue complication probability models predicting grade 3 or higher (ie, grade 3+) pneumonitis for all dose-function schemes. The area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess the predictive power of the models. All techniques were compared with normal tissue complication probability models based on traditional, total lung dose metrics.

RESULTS

The most predictive models were structure-based approaches that focused on the volume of functional lung receiving ≥20 Gy (AUC, 0.70). Probabilities of grade 3+ RP of 20% and 10% correspond to V20 (percentage of volume receiving ≥20 Gy) to the functional subvolumes of 26.8% and 9.3%, respectively. Imaging-based analysis with the dose-function histogram and nonlinear weighted ventilation values yielded AUCs of 0.66 and 0.67, respectively, when we evaluated the percentage of functionality receiving ≥20 Gy. All dose-function metrics outperformed the traditional dose metrics (mean lung dose, AUC of 0.55).

CONCLUSIONS

A full range of dose-function metrics and functional thresholds was examined. The calculated AUC values for the most predictive functional models occupied a narrow range (0.66-0.70), and all showed notable improvements over AUC from traditional lung dose metrics (0.55). Identifying the combinations most predictive of grade 3+ RP provides valuable data to inform the functional-guided radiation therapy process.

Magnetic resonance imaging with hyperpolarized agents: methods and applications

In the past decade, hyperpolarized (HP) contrast agents have been under active development for MRI applications to address the twin challenges of functional and quantitative imaging. Both HP helium (³He) and xenon (¹²⁹Xe) gases have reached the stage where they are under study in clinical research. HP ¹²⁹Xe, in particular, is poised for larger scale clinical research to investigate asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and fibrotic lung diseases. With advances in polarizer technology and unique capabilities for imaging of ¹²⁹Xe gas exchange into lung tissue and blood, HP ¹²⁹Xe MRI is attracting new attention. In parallel, HP ¹³C and ¹⁵N MRI methods have steadily advanced in a wide range of pre-clinical research applications for imaging metabolism in various cancers and cardiac disease. The HP [1-¹³C] pyruvate MRI technique, in particular, has undergone phase I trials in prostate cancer and is poised for investigational new drug trials at multiple institutions in cancer and cardiac applications. This review treats the methodology behind both HP gases and HP ¹³C and ¹⁵N liquid state agents. Gas and liquid phase HP agents share similar technologies for achieving non-equilibrium polarization outside the field of the MRI scanner, strategies for image data acquisition, and translational challenges in moving from pre-clinical to clinical research. To cover the wide array of methods and applications, this review is organized by numerical section into (1) a brief introduction, (2) the physical and biological properties of the most common polarized agents with a brief summary of applications and methods of polarization, (3) methods for image acquisition and reconstruction specific to improving data acquisition efficiency for HP MRI, (4) the main physical properties that enable unique measures of physiology or metabolic pathways, followed by a more detailed review of the literature describing the use of HP agents to study: (5) metabolic pathways in cancer and cardiac disease and (6) lung function in both pre-clinical and clinical research studies, concluding with (7) some future directions and challenges, and (8) an overall summary.

Priority-driven plan optimization in locally advanced lung patients based on perfusion SPECT imaging

Purpose

Limits on mean lung dose (MLD) allow for individualization of radiation doses at safe levels for patients with lung tumors. However, MLD does not account for individual differences in the extent or spatial distribution of pulmonary dysfunction among patients, which leads to toxicity variability at the same MLD. We investigated dose rearrangement to minimize the radiation dose to the functional lung as assessed by perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and maximize the target coverage to maintain conventional normal tissue limits.

Methods and materials

Retrospective plans were optimized for 15 patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were enrolled in a prospective imaging trial. A staged, priority-based optimization system was used. The baseline priorities were to meet physical MLD and other dose constraints for organs at risk, and to maximize the target generalized equivalent uniform dose (gEUD). To determine the benefit of dose rearrangement with perfusion SPECT, plans were reoptimized to minimize the generalized equivalent uniform functional dose (gEUfD) to the lung as the subsequent priority.

Results

When only physical MLD is minimized, lung gEUfD was 12.6 ± 4.9 Gy (6.3-21.7 Gy). When the dose is rearranged to minimize gEUfD directly in the optimization objective function, 10 of 15 cases showed a decrease in lung gEUfD of >20% (lung gEUfD mean 9.9 ± 4.3 Gy, range 2.1-16.2 Gy) while maintaining equivalent planning target volume coverage. Although all dose-limiting constraints remained unviolated, the dose rearrangement resulted in slight gEUD increases to the cord (5.4 ± 3.9 Gy), esophagus (3.0 ± 3.7 Gy), and heart (2.3 ± 2.6 Gy).

Conclusions

Priority-driven optimization in conjunction with perfusion SPECT permits image guided spatial dose redistribution within the lung and allows for a reduced dose to the functional lung without compromising target coverage or exceeding conventional limits for organs at risk.

Measuring interfraction and intrafraction lung function changes during radiation therapy using four-dimensional cone beam CT ventilation imaging

PURPOSE

Adaptive ventilation guided radiation therapy could minimize the irradiation of healthy lung based on repeat lung ventilation imaging (VI) during treatment. However the efficacy of adaptive ventilation guidance requires that interfraction (e.g., week-to-week), ventilation changes are not washed out by intrafraction (e.g., pre- and postfraction) changes, for example, due to patient breathing variability. The authors hypothesize that patients undergoing lung cancer radiation therapy exhibit larger interfraction ventilation changes compared to intrafraction function changes. To test this, the authors perform the first comparison of interfraction and intrafraction lung VI pairs using four-dimensional cone beam CT ventilation imaging (4D-CBCT VI), a novel technique for functional lung imaging.

METHODS

The authors analyzed a total of 215 4D-CBCT scans acquired for 19 locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients over 4-6 weeks of radiation therapy. This set of 215 scans was sorted into 56 interfraction pairs (including first day scans and each of treatment weeks 2, 4, and 6) and 78 intrafraction pairs (including pre/postfraction scans on the same-day), with some scans appearing in both sets. VIs were obtained from the Jacobian determinant of the transform between the 4D-CBCT end-exhale and end-inhale images after deformable image registration. All VIs were deformably registered to their corresponding planning CT and normalized to account for differences in breathing effort, thus facilitating image comparison in terms of (i) voxelwise Spearman correlations, (ii) mean image differences, and (iii) gamma pass rates for all interfraction and intrafraction VI pairs. For the side of the lung ipsilateral to the tumor, we applied two-sided t-tests to determine whether interfraction VI pairs were more different than intrafraction VI pairs.

RESULTS

The (mean ± standard deviation) Spearman correlation for interfraction VI pairs was r̄(Inter)=0.52±0.25, which was significantly lower than for intrafraction pairs (r̄(Intra)=0.67±0.20, p = 0.0002). Conversely, mean absolute ventilation differences were larger for interfraction pairs than for intrafraction pairs, with |ΔV̄(Inter)|=0.42±0.65 and |ΔV̄(Intra)|=0.32±0.53, respectively (p < 10(-15)). Applying a gamma analysis with ventilation/distance tolerance of 25%/10 mm, we observed mean pass rate of (69% ± 20%) for interfraction VIs, which was significantly lower compared to intrafraction pairs (80% ± 15%, with p ∼ 0.0003). Compared to the first day scans, all patients experienced at least one subsequent change in median ipsilateral ventilation ≥10%. Patients experienced both positive and negative ventilation changes throughout treatment, with the maximum change occurring at different weeks for different patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors' data support the hypothesis that interfraction ventilation changes are larger than intrafraction ventilation changes for LA-NSCLC patients over a course of conventional lung cancer radiation therapy. Longitudinal ventilation changes are observed to be highly patient-dependent, supporting a possible role for adaptive ventilation guidance based on repeat 4D-CBCT VIs. We anticipate that future improvement of 4D-CBCT image reconstruction algorithms will improve the capability of 4D-CBCT VI to resolve interfraction ventilation changes.

Magnetic resonance imaging in lung: a review of its potential for radiotherapy

MRI has superior soft-tissue definition compared with existing imaging modalities in radiation oncology; this has the added benefit of functional as well as anatomical imaging. This review aimed to evaluate the current use of MRI for lung cancer and identify the potential of a MRI protocol for lung radiotherapy (RT). 30 relevant studies were identified. Improvements in MRI technology have overcome some of the initial limitations of utilizing MRI for lung imaging. A number of commercially available and novel sequences have shown image quality to be adequate for the detection of pulmonary nodules with the potential for tumour delineation. Quantifying tumour motion is also feasible and may be more representative than that seen on four-dimensional CT. Functional MRI sequences have shown correlation with flu-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in identifying malignant involvement and treatment response. MRI can also be used as a measure of pulmonary function. While there are some limitations for the adoption of MRI in RT-planning process for lung cancer, MRI has shown the potential to compete with both CT and PET for tumour delineation and motion definition, with the added benefit of functional information. MRI is well placed to become a significant imaging modality in RT for lung cancer.

Functional imaging of the lungs with gas agents

This review focuses on the state-of-the-art of the three major classes of gas contrast agents used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-hyperpolarized (HP) gas, molecular oxygen, and fluorinated gas--and their application to clinical pulmonary research. During the past several years there has been accelerated development of pulmonary MRI. This has been driven in part by concerns regarding ionizing radiation using multidetector computed tomography (CT). However, MRI also offers capabilities for fast multispectral and functional imaging using gas agents that are not technically feasible with CT. Recent improvements in gradient performance and radial acquisition methods using ultrashort echo time (UTE) have contributed to advances in these functional pulmonary MRI techniques. The relative strengths and weaknesses of the main functional imaging methods and gas agents are compared and applications to measures of ventilation, diffusion, and gas exchange are presented. Functional lung MRI methods using these gas agents are improving our understanding of a wide range of chronic lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis in both adults and children.

Quantitative evaluation of radiation-induced lung injury with hyperpolarized xenon magnetic resonance

PURPOSE

To demonstrate the feasibility of quantitative and comprehensive global evaluation of pulmonary function and microstructural changes in rats with radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) using hyperpolarized xenon MR.

METHODS

Dissolved xenon spectra were dynamically acquired using a modified chemical shift saturation recovery pulse sequence in five rats with RILI (bilaterally exposed by 6-MV x-ray with a dose of 14 Gy 3 mo. prior to MR experiments) and five healthy rats. The dissolved xenon signals were quantitatively analyzed, and the pulmonary physiological parameters were extracted with the model of xenon exchange.

RESULTS

The obtained pulmonary physiological parameters and the ratio of (129) Xe signal in red blood cells (RBCs) versus barrier showed a significant difference between the groups. In RILI rats versus controls, the exchange time increased from 44.5 to 112 ms, the pulmonary capillary transit time increased from 0.51 to 1.48 s, and the ratio of (129) Xe spectroscopic signal in RBCs versus barrier increased from 0.294 to 0.484.

CONCLUSION

Hyperpolarized xenon MR is effective for quantitative and comprehensive global evaluation of pulmonary function and structural changes without the use of radiation. This may open the door for its use in the diagnosis of lung diseases that are related to gas exchange. Magn Reson Med 76:408-416, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A method for quantitative analysis of regional lung ventilation using deformable image registration of CT and hybrid hyperpolarized gas/1H MRI

Hyperpolarized gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generates highly detailed maps of lung ventilation and physiological function while CT provides corresponding anatomical and structural information. Fusion of such complementary images enables quantitative analysis of pulmonary structure-function. However, direct image registration of hyperpolarized gas MRI to CT is problematic, particularly in lungs whose boundaries are difficult to delineate due to ventilation heterogeneity. This study presents a novel indirect method of registering hyperpolarized gas MRI to CT utilizing (1)H-structural MR images that are acquired in the same breath-hold as the gas MRI. The feasibility of using this technique for regional quantification of ventilation of specific pulmonary structures is demonstrated for the lobes.The direct and indirect methods of hyperpolarized gas MRI to CT image registration were compared using lung images from 15 asthma patients. Both affine and diffeomorphic image transformations were implemented. Registration accuracy was evaluated using the target registration error (TRE) of anatomical landmarks identified on (1)H MRI and CT. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to test statistical significance.For the affine transformation, the indirect method of image registration was significantly more accurate than the direct method (TRE = 14.7 ± 3.2 versus 19.6 ± 12.7 mm, p = 0.036). Using a deformable transformation, the indirect method was also more accurate than the direct method (TRE = 13.5 ± 3.3 versus 20.4 ± 12.8 mm, p = 0.006).Accurate image registration is critical for quantification of regional lung ventilation with hyperpolarized gas MRI within the anatomy delineated by CT. Automatic deformable image registration of hyperpolarized gas MRI to CT via same breath-hold (1)H MRI is more accurate than direct registration. Potential applications include improved multi-modality image fusion, functionally weighted radiotherapy planning, and quantification of lobar ventilation in obstructive airways disease.

The potential for an enhanced role for MRI in radiation-therapy treatment planning

The exquisite soft-tissue contrast of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has meant that the technique is having an increasing role in contouring the gross tumor volume (GTV) and organs at risk (OAR) in radiation therapy treatment planning systems (TPS). MRI-planning scans from diagnostic MRI scanners are currently incorporated into the planning process by being registered to CT data. The soft-tissue data from the MRI provides target outline guidance and the CT provides a solid geometric and electron density map for accurate dose calculation on the TPS computer. There is increasing interest in MRI machine placement in radiotherapy clinics as an adjunct to CT simulators. Most vendors now offer 70 cm bores with flat couch inserts and specialised RF coil designs. We would refer to these devices as MR-simulators. There is also research into the future application of MR-simulators independent of CT and as in-room image-guidance devices. It is within the background of this increased interest in the utility of MRI in radiotherapy treatment planning that this paper is couched. The paper outlines publications that deal with standard MRI sequences used in current clinical practice. It then discusses the potential for using processed functional diffusion maps (fDM) derived from diffusion weighted image sequences in tracking tumor activity and tumor recurrence. Next, this paper reviews publications that describe the use of MRI in patient-management applications that may, in turn, be relevant to radiotherapy treatment planning. The review briefly discusses the concepts behind functional techniques such as dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE), diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI sequences and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). Significant applications of MR are discussed in terms of the following treatment sites: brain, head and neck, breast, lung, prostate and cervix. While not yet routine, the use of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map analysis indicates an exciting future application for functional MRI. Although DW-MRI has not yet been routinely used in boost adaptive techniques, it is being assessed in cohort studies for sub-volume boosting in prostate tumors.

IMRT treatment plans and functional planning with functional lung imaging from 4D-CT for thoracic cancer patients

Background and purpose

Currently, the inhomogeneity of the pulmonary function is not considered when treatment plans are generated in thoracic cancer radiotherapy. This study evaluates the dose of treatment plans on highly-functional volumes and performs functional treatment planning by incorporation of ventilation data from 4D-CT.

Materials and methods

Eleven patients were included in this retrospective study. Ventilation was calculated using 4D-CT. Two treatment plans were generated for each case, the first one without the incorporation of the ventilation and the second with it. The dose of the first plans was overlapped with the ventilation and analyzed. Highly-functional regions were avoided in the second treatment plans.

Results

For small targets in the first plans (PTV < 400 cc, 6 cases), all V5, V20 and the mean lung dose values for the highly-functional regions were lower than that of the total lung. For large targets, two out of five cases had higher V5 and V20 values for the highly-functional regions. All the second plans were within constraints.

Conclusion

Radiation treatments affect functional lung more seriously in large tumor cases. With compromise of dose to other critical organs, functional treatment planning to reduce dose in highly-functional lung volumes can be achieved

Expression of Angiotensin II and Aldosterone in Radiation-induced Lung Injury

OBJECTIVE

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is the most common, dose-limiting complication in thoracic malignancy radiotherapy. Considering its negative impact on patients and restrictions to efficacy, the mechanism of RILI was studied.

METHODS

Wistar rats were locally irradiated with a single dose of 0, 16, and 20 Gy to the right half of the lung to establish a lung injury model. Two and six months after irradiation, the right half of the rat lung tissue was removed, and the concentrations of TGF-β1, angiotensin II, and aldosterone were determined via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

Statistical differences were observed in the expression levels of angiotensin II and aldosterone between the non-irradiation and irradiation groups. Moreover, the expression level of the angiotensin II-aldosterone system increased with increasing doses, and the difference was still observed as time progressed.

CONCLUSIONS

Angiotensin II-aldosterone system has an important pathophysiological function in the progression of RILI.

Functional avoidance of lung in plan optimization with an aperture-based inverse planning system

PURPOSE

To implement SPECT-based optimization in an anatomy-based aperture inverse planning system for the functional avoidance of lung in thoracic irradiation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

SPECT information has been introduced as a voxel-by-voxel modulation of lung importance factors proportionally to the local perfusion count. Fifteen cases of lung cancer have been retrospectively analyzed by generating angle-optimized non-coplanar plans, comparing a purely anatomical approach and our functional approach. Planning target volume coverage and lung sparing have been compared. Statistical significance was assessed by a Wilcoxon matched pairs test.

RESULTS

For similar target coverage, perfusion-weighted volume receiving 10 Gy was reduced by a median of 2.2% (p=0.022) and mean perfusion-weighted lung dose, by a median of 0.9 Gy (p=0.001). A separate analysis of patients with localized or non-uniform hypoperfusion could not show which would benefit more from SPECT-based treatment planning. Redirection of dose sometimes created overdosage regions in the target volume. Plans consisted of a similar number of segments and monitor units.

CONCLUSIONS

Angle optimization and SPECT-based modulation of importance factors allowed for functional avoidance of the lung while preserving target coverage. The technique could be also applied to implement PET-based modulation inside the target volume, leading to a safer dose escalation.

Clinical validation of a 4D-CT based method for lung ventilation measurement in phantoms and patients

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer patients referred to radiotherapy (RT) often present with regional lung function deficits, and it is therefore of interest to image their lung function prior to treatment. In this study a method was developed that uses a deformable image registration (DIR) between the peak-inhale and peak-exhale phases of a thoracic four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) scan to extract ventilation information. The method calculates the displacement vector fields (DVFs) resulting from the DIR using the Jacobian map approach in order to extract information regarding regional lung volume change.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The DVFs resulting from DIRs were analysed to compute the Jacobian determinant of vectors in the field, thus obtaining a map of the vector gradients of the entire registered CT image, i.e. voxel-wise local volume change. Geometric and quantitative validation was achieved using images of both phantoms and patients. In the phantom studies, translations and deformations of known size and direction were introduced to validate both the DIR algorithm and the method as a whole. Furthermore, five patients underwent 4D-CT for planning of stereotactic body RT (SBRT). The patients were immobilised in a stereotactic body frame (SBF) and for each patient, two thoracic 4D-CT scans were acquired, one scan with respiration restricted by an abdominal compression plate and the other under free breathing.

RESULTS

In the phantom studies deformation errors were found to be of the order of the expected precision of 3 mm, corresponding to the image slice distance, in lateral and vertical directions. For the longitudinal direction a more pronounced discrepancy was observed, with the algorithm predicting displacement lengths of less than half of the physically introduced deformation. Qualitatively the method performed as expected. In the patient study an inverse consistency test showed deviations of up to 5.8 mm, i.e. almost twice the image slice separation. Jacobian maps of the patient images indicated well-ventilated areas as anatomically expected.

CONCLUSION

The established method provides a means of using a (commercially available) DIR algorithm to obtain a quantitative measure of local lung volume change. With further phantom and patient validation studies, quantitative maps of specific ventilation should be possible to produce and use in a clinical setting.

Semiquantification and classification of local pulmonary function by V/Q single photon emission computed tomography in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: potential indication for radiotherapy planning

INTRODUCTION

Perfusion (Q) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has been used to divert dose away from higher-functioning lung during radiation therapy (RT) planning. This study aimed to (1) study regional lung function through coregistered pulmonary ventilation/perfusion (V/Q)-SPECT-CT and (2) classify these defects for its potential value in radiation planning in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS

Patients with stages I to III NSCLC requiring radiation-based therapy were eligible for this prospective study. V/Q-SPECT performed within 2 weeks before the start of radiation was interpreted by nuclear medicine physicians and then measured by a semiquantitative score. The potential mechanism of V and Q defects was analyzed; the potential impact of V/Q-SPECT over Q-SPECT alone was completed through classified applications (high-dose RT versus RT avoidance) during planning.

RESULTS

Images of 51 consecutive patients were analyzed. The V and Q defects were matched, reverse mismatched (V defect > Q defect), and mismatched (Q defect > V defect) in 61, 31, and 8% of patients, respectively. Tumor was the leading cause of the defects of ipsilateral lung in 73% of patients. The defect scores of the ipsilateral lung were greater in patients with central primaries than those with peripheral primaries for both V-SPECT (2.3 ± 1.1 versus 1.5 ± 0.8, p = 0.017) and Q-SPECT (2.2 ± 0.8 versus 1.4 ± 0.6, p = 0.000). The patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had greater defect scores in contralateral lung for both V-SPECT (1.5 ± 0.7 versus 1.0 ± 0.8, p = 0.006) and Q-SPECT (1.4 ± 0.6 versus 1.0 ± 0.4, p = 0.010). On assessing the potential value of SPECT on RT plan, 39% of patients could have their RT plan when applying V/Q-SPECT rather than Q-SPECT alone.

CONCLUSIONS

V/Q-SPECT provides a more comprehensive functional assessment, may provide additional value over Q-SPECT alone in assessing local pulmonary function, and guide RT plan decisions in patients with NSCLC.

Imaging of lung function using hyperpolarized helium-3 magnetic resonance imaging: Review of current and emerging translational methods and applications

During the past several years there has been extensive development and application of hyperpolarized helium-3 (HP (3)He) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in clinical respiratory indications such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, radiation-induced lung injury, and transplantation. This review focuses on the state-of-the-art of HP (3)He MRI and its application to clinical pulmonary research. This is not an overview of the physics of the method, as this topic has been covered previously. We focus here on the potential of this imaging method and its challenges in demonstrating new types of information that has the potential to influence clinical research and decision making in pulmonary medicine. Particular attention is given to functional imaging approaches related to ventilation and diffusion-weighted imaging with applications in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and radiation-induced lung injury. The strengths and challenges of the application of (3)He MRI in these indications are discussed along with a comparison to established and emerging imaging techniques.

Radiation pneumonitis in patients with lung and mediastinal tumours: a retrospective study of risk factors focused on pulmonary emphysema

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the impact of pulmonary emphysema (PE) on the incidence and severity of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in patients with lung and mediastinal tumours.

METHODS

92 patients were enrolled. Involved-field radiation therapy (non-small cell carcinoma or mediastinal tumours in 69 patients; median 70 Gy) and accelerated hyperfractionation (limited disease small cell carcinoma in 23 patients; median 45 Gy) were performed. Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v.3.0 was used to evaluate RP and the relationship with the percentage of pulmonary volume irradiated to >20 Gy (V20) and PE. PE was diagnosed by the presence of low-attenuation areas (LAAs) on CT scans and was classified into Grades 0-4 according to the extent of the LAAs.

RESULTS

The median follow-up time was 16 months. The 6-month cumulative incidence of RP at Grade 3 or greater was 7.7% and 34.1% in patients with a V20 of <25% and ≥25%, respectively (p=0.017). In patients with PE Grades 0, 1, 2 and 3 or greater, the incidence of RP was 16.5%, 9.1%, 8.6% and 54.0%, respectively. As the PE Grade increased, the incidence of RP also increased significantly.

CONCLUSION

The incidence and severity of RP are significantly higher in patients with a high V20 value as well as in those with severe PE.

Helical tomotherapy planning for lung cancer based on ventilation magnetic resonance imaging

To investigate the feasibility of lung ventilation-based treatment planning, computed tomography and hyperpolarized (HP) helium-3 (He-3) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) ventilation images of 6 subjects were coregistered for intensity-modulated radiation therapy planning in Tomotherapy. Highly-functional lungs (HFL) and less-functional lungs (LFL) were contoured based on their ventilation image intensities, and a cylindrical planning-target-volume was simulated at locations adjacent to both HFL and LFL. Annals of an anatomy-based plan (Plan 1) and a ventilation-based plan (Plan 2) were generated. The following dosimetric parameters were determined and compared between the 2 plans: percentage of total/HFL volume receiving ≥20 Gy, 15 Gy, 10 Gy, and 5 Gy (TLV(20), HFLV(20), TLV(15), HFLV(15), TLV(10), HFLV(10), TLV(5), HFLV(5)), mean total/HFL dose (MTLD/HFLD), maximum doses to all organs at risk (OARs), and target dose conformality. Compared with Plan 1, Plan 2 reduced mean HFLD (mean reduction, 0.8 Gy), MTLD (mean reduction, 0.6 Gy), HFLV(20) (mean reduction, 1.9%), TLV(20) (mean reduction, 1.5%), TLV(15) (mean reduction, 1.7%), and TLV(10) (mean reduction, 2.1%). P-values of the above comparisons are less than 0.05 using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. For HFLV(15), HFLV(10), TLV(5), and HTLV(5), Plan 2 resulted in lower values than plan 1 but the differences are not significant (P-value range, 0.063-0.219). Plan 2 did not significantly change maximum doses to OARs (P-value range, 0.063-0.563) and target conformality (P = 1.000). HP He-3 MRI of patients with lung disease shows a highly heterogeneous ventilation capacity that can be utilized for functional treatment planning. Moderate but statistically significant improvements in sparing functional lungs were achieved using helical tomotherapy plans.

Imaging of normal lung, liver and parotid gland function for radiotherapy

There is growing clinical evidence that functional imaging is useful for target volume definition and early assessment of tumour response to external beam radiotherapy. A subject that has perhaps received less attention, but is no less promising, is the application of functional imaging to the prediction or measurement of radiation adverse effects in normal tissues. In this manuscript, we review the current published literature describing the use of positron emission tomography (PET), four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study normal tissue function in the context of radiotherapy to the lung, liver and head & neck. Published results to date demonstrate that functional imaging can be used to preferentially avoid normal tissues not easily identifiable on solely anatomical images. It is also a potentially very powerful tool for the early detection of radiotherapy-induced normal tissue adverse effects and could provide valuable data for building predictive models of outcome. However, one of the major challenges to building useful predictive models is that, to date, there are very little data available with combined images of normal function, 3D delivered radiation dose and clinical outcomes. Prospective data collection through well-constructed studies which use established morbidity scores is clearly a priority if significant progress is to be made in this area.

Ventilation from four-dimensional computed tomography: density versus Jacobian methods

Two calculation methods to produce ventilation images from four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) acquired without added contrast have been reported. We reported a method to obtain ventilation images using deformable image registration (DIR) and the underlying CT density information. A second method performs the ventilation image calculation from the DIR result alone, using the Jacobian determinant of the deformation field to estimate the local volume changes resulting from ventilation. For each of these two approaches, there are variations on their implementation. In this study, two implementations of the Jacobian-based methodology are evaluated, as well as a single density change-based model for calculating the physiologic specific ventilation from 4DCT. In clinical practice, (99m)Tc-labeled aerosol single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is the standard method used to obtain ventilation images in patients. In this study, the distributions of ventilation obtained from the CT-based ventilation image calculation methods are compared with those obtained from the clinical standard SPECT ventilation imaging. Seven patients with 4DCT imaging and standard (99m)Tc-labeled aerosol SPECT/CT ventilation imaging obtained on the same day as part of a prospective validation study were selected. The results of this work demonstrate the equivalence of the Jacobian-based methodologies for quantifying the specific ventilation on a voxel scale. Additionally, we found that both Jacobian- and density-change-based methods correlate well with global measurements of the resting tidal volume. Finally, correlation with the clinical SPECT was assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient, which showed statistically higher (p-value < 10(-4)) correlation between density-change-based specific ventilation and the clinical reference than did either Jacobian-based implementation.