OBJECTIVE: Delineation of treatment volumes is a major source of uncertainties in radiotherapy (RT). This is also true for rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant RT, with a potential impact on treatment quality. We investigated the role of the digital platform Anatom-e (Anatom-e Information Sytems Ltd., Houston, Texas) in increasing the compliance to follow a specific treatment protocol in a multicentric setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two clinical cases of locally advanced rectal cancer were chosen. Participants were instructed to follow the 2009 Radiation Therapy Oncology Group consensus atlas and asked to manually segment clinical target volumes (CTVs), for both patient 1 and 2, on day 1 with and without the use of Anatom-e. After one week (day 2), the same radiation oncologist contoured again, with and without Anatom-e, the same CT series. Intraobserver (Intra-OV) and interobserver (Inter-OV) variability were evaluated with the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), the Hausdorff distance (HD) and mean distance to agreement (MDA). RESULTS: For clinical case 1, no significant difference was found for Intra-OV and Inter-OV. For clinical case 2, no significant difference was found for Intra-OV but a statistically significant difference was found for Inter-OV in DSC when using or not the platform. Mean DCS was 0.65 (SD: ±0.64; range: 0.58-0.79) for day 1 vs reference volume without Anatom-e and 0.72 (SD: ±0.39; range: 0.67-0.77) (p = 0.03) with it. Mean MDA was lower with Anatom-e (3.61; SD: ±1.33; range: 2.85-4.78) than without (4.14; SD: ±2.97; range: 2.18-5.21), with no statistical significance (p = 0.21) The use of Anatom-e decreased the SD from 2.97 to 1.33. Mean HD was lower with Anatom-e (26.06; SD: ±2.05; range: 24.08-32.62), with no statistical significance (p = 0.14) compared to that without (31.39; SD: ±1.31; range: 26.14-48.72). CONCLUSIONS: The use of Anatom-e decreased the Inter-OV in the CTV delineation process for locally advanced rectal cancer with complex disease presentation planned for neoadjuvant RT. This system may be potentially helpful in increasing the compliance to follow shared guidelines and protocols.

Variability of clinical target volume delineation for rectal cancer patients planned for neoadjuvant radiotherapy with the aid of the platform Anatom-e

Franco, Pierfrancesco
First
;
Arcadipane, Francesca;Trino, Elisabetta;Gallio, Elena;Martini, Stefania;Iorio, Giuseppe Carlo;Piva, Cristina;Moretto, Francesco;Ruo Redda, Maria Grazia;POZZI, GABRIELE;Fiandra, Christian;Ragona, Riccardo;Bertetto, Oscar;Ricardi, Umberto
Last
2018-01-01

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Delineation of treatment volumes is a major source of uncertainties in radiotherapy (RT). This is also true for rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant RT, with a potential impact on treatment quality. We investigated the role of the digital platform Anatom-e (Anatom-e Information Sytems Ltd., Houston, Texas) in increasing the compliance to follow a specific treatment protocol in a multicentric setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two clinical cases of locally advanced rectal cancer were chosen. Participants were instructed to follow the 2009 Radiation Therapy Oncology Group consensus atlas and asked to manually segment clinical target volumes (CTVs), for both patient 1 and 2, on day 1 with and without the use of Anatom-e. After one week (day 2), the same radiation oncologist contoured again, with and without Anatom-e, the same CT series. Intraobserver (Intra-OV) and interobserver (Inter-OV) variability were evaluated with the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), the Hausdorff distance (HD) and mean distance to agreement (MDA). RESULTS: For clinical case 1, no significant difference was found for Intra-OV and Inter-OV. For clinical case 2, no significant difference was found for Intra-OV but a statistically significant difference was found for Inter-OV in DSC when using or not the platform. Mean DCS was 0.65 (SD: ±0.64; range: 0.58-0.79) for day 1 vs reference volume without Anatom-e and 0.72 (SD: ±0.39; range: 0.67-0.77) (p = 0.03) with it. Mean MDA was lower with Anatom-e (3.61; SD: ±1.33; range: 2.85-4.78) than without (4.14; SD: ±2.97; range: 2.18-5.21), with no statistical significance (p = 0.21) The use of Anatom-e decreased the SD from 2.97 to 1.33. Mean HD was lower with Anatom-e (26.06; SD: ±2.05; range: 24.08-32.62), with no statistical significance (p = 0.14) compared to that without (31.39; SD: ±1.31; range: 26.14-48.72). CONCLUSIONS: The use of Anatom-e decreased the Inter-OV in the CTV delineation process for locally advanced rectal cancer with complex disease presentation planned for neoadjuvant RT. This system may be potentially helpful in increasing the compliance to follow shared guidelines and protocols.
2018
11
33
39
AJCC/UICC, American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union Internationale Contre le Cancer; CHT, chemotherapy; CT, computed tomography; CTV, clinical target volume; Contouring; DSC, Dice similarity coefficient; GTV, gross tumor volume; HD, Hausdorff distance; Inter-OV, inter-observer variability; Interobserver variability; Intra-OV, intra-observer variability; MDA, mean distance to agreement; MR, magnetic resonance imaging; Neoadjuvant radiotherapy; OARs, organs at risk; RT, radiotherapy; RTOG, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group; Rectal cancer; Ros, radiation oncologists; SD, standard deviation; SWOG, Radiation Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group; Target volume delineation; VMAT, volumetric modulated arc therapy
Franco, Pierfrancesco; Arcadipane, Francesca; Trino, Elisabetta; Gallio, Elena; Martini, Stefania; Iorio, Giuseppe Carlo; Piva, Cristina; Moretto, Francesco; Ruo Redda, Maria Grazia; Verna, Roberta; Tseroni, Vassiliki; Bona, Cristina; Pozzi, Gabriele; Fiandra, Christian; Ragona, Riccardo; Bertetto, Oscar; Ricardi, Umberto
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
definitive.pdf

Accesso aperto

Descrizione: pdf definitivo
Tipo di file: PDF EDITORIALE
Dimensione 1.62 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.62 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1669938
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 8
  • Scopus 20
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 20
social impact