Biological imaging in clinical oncology: radiation therapy based on functional imaging

Int J Clin Oncol. 2016 Aug;21(4):626-632. doi: 10.1007/s10147-016-1000-2. Epub 2016 Jul 6.

Abstract

Radiation therapy is one of the most effective tools for cancer treatment. In recent years, intensity-modulated radiation therapy has become increasingly popular in that target dose-escalation can be done while sparing adjacent normal tissues. For this reason, the development of measures to pave the way for accurate target delineation is of great interest. With the integration of functional information obtained by biological imaging with radiotherapy, strategies using advanced biological imaging to visualize metabolic pathways and to improve therapeutic index and predict treatment response are discussed in this article.

Keywords: Biological imaging; Functional imaging; Radiation therapy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Radiotherapy Dosage
  • Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted
  • Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*