Research on imaging in radiation oncology featured in Red Journal special issue

ARLINGTON, Va.,/PRNewswire/ -- A new special edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics (Red Journal) focuses on the roles of imaging in radiation oncology. The collection explores topics such as improving accuracy with patient positioning, defining radiation therapy volumes using imaging, imaging of functional biomarkers, the role of imaging in post-treatment care, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The issue, which includes more than 70 research articles and essays, is available in print and online, and it will be free to read online November 26-30.

The collection was edited by Sue Yom, MD, PhD, deputy editor of the journal and a radiation oncologist at University of California, San Francisco, and Kristy Brock, PhD, an associate senior editor and medical physicist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The editors co-authored an editorial exploring the integration of imaging with the field of radiation oncology, "Seeing what’s before us: Imaging in the electronic age." In this introduction to the collection, the editors ask: "Can imaging make our therapies more precise, more effective, or better evaluated for their ultimate effects, whether toxic or beneficial, and if so, in what best manner?" Additionally, Dr. Yom provides an analysis of research highlights and an overview of the issue's importance for practitioners and patients in an accompanying podcast.

"This special edition on patient imaging in radiation oncology explores the range of activities radiation oncologists perform as they work with their patients, and it underscores the vibrancy of imaging in our specialty," said Dr. Yom. "The cross-cutting collection addresses the impact of imaging across the cancer care process, including diagnosis, prognostication, treatment planning and delivery, outcome assessment, follow-up and surveillance. The articles contain scientific inventions, novel applications of standard imaging techniques and cautionary notices, and they are likely to stimulate changes in practice and/or research."

Selected highlights from this issue include the following articles:

Treatment planning

• Changes in brain metastasis during radiosurgical planning, by Alison Salkeld et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.06.021
• Impact of magnetic resonance imaging on gross tumor volume delineation in non-spine bony metastasis treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy, by Srinivas Raman et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.03.010
• In a heartbeat: An assessment of dynamic dose variation to cardiac structures using dual source computed tomography, by Houda Bahig et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.01.049
• Velocity-based adaptive registration and fusion for fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery using the small animal radiation research platform, by Paul J. Black et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.04.067

Treatment imaging and assessment

• 4-Dimensional cone beam computed tomography–measured target motion underrepresents actual motion, by Elisabeth Steiner et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.04.056
• Spatial comparison of CT-based surrogates of lung ventilation with hyperpolarized helium-3 and xenon-129 gas MRI in patients undergoing radiation therapy, by Bilal A. Tahir et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.04.077

Quantitative data analysis from imaging

• Intratreatment response assessment with 18F-FDG PET: Correlation of semiquantitative PET features with pathologic response of esophageal cancer to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, by Daniel J. Tandberg et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.07.187
• Radiomic biomarkers to refine risk models for distant metastasis in HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma, by Jennifer Yin Yee Kwan et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.01.057

For copies of articles from the special issue or to interview authors or outside experts, contact ASTRO's media relations team at press@astro.org or 703-286-1600. For more information about the Red Journal, visit www.redjournal.org.

ABOUT ASTRO
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the world's largest radiation oncology society, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. The Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes three medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, Practical Radiation Oncology and Advances in Radiation Oncology; developed and maintains an extensive patient website, RT Answers; and created the nonprofit foundation Radiation Oncology Institute. To learn more about ASTRO, visit astro.org or RTanswers.org, sign up to receive our news and follow us on our blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Liz Gardner, 703-286-1600, liz.gardner@astro.org 
Jeff White, 703-839-7392, jeff.white@astro.org

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SOURCE American Society for Radiation Oncology