International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Jan 2011
Volume or position changes of primary lung tumor during (chemo-)radiotherapy cannot be used as a surrogate for mediastinal lymph node changes: the case for optimal mediastinal lymph node imaging during radiotherapy.
Primary lung tumors can be visualized mostly with cone beam computed tomography (CT), whereas visualization is much more difficult for mediastinal lymph nodes (LN). If the volumetric and positional changes of the primary tumor could be used as a surrogate for the LN, this would facilitate image-guided radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the positional and volumetric changes in primary tumors and the involved LN during (chemo)radiotherapy treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer patients. ⋯ Volume and position changes of the primary tumor are not always predictive for LN changes. This suggests that for characterization of involved LN, repeated state-of-the-art mediastinal imaging during radiotherapy may be necessary.