Clinical nuclear medicine
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Clinical nuclear medicine · Apr 2010
Clinical TrialImpact of FDG PET/CT on delineation of the gross tumor volume for radiation planning in non-small-cell lung cancer.
Computed tomography (CT) remains the gold standard for delineation of tumor volumes for radiotherapy (RT) planning. However, positron emission tomography (PET) overlay on CT has shown to impact the gross target volume (GTV), decrease intraobserver variability, and change the treatment planning in a significant number of patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence and accuracy of FDG PET in GTV definition as a complementary modality to CT for patients with non-small-cell lung carcinoma at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. ⋯ Our results are consistent with the published data of PET/CT altering GTV in a significant number of patients, detecting tumor spread to additional lymph nodes and distant metastases. While these advantages support the use of PET/CT in RT planning, it remains unknown what impact this will have on patient outcomes.