Sub-regional analysis of the parotid glands: model development for predicting late xerostomia with radiomics features in head and neck cancer patients.

Background: The irradiation of sub-regions of the parotid has been linked to xerostomia development in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). In this study, we compared the xerostomia classification performance of radiomics features calculated on clinically relevant and de novo sub-regions of the parotid glands of HNC patients.

Material And Methods: All patients ( = 117) were treated with TomoTherapy in 30-35 fractions of 2-2.

Assessing the generalisability of radiomics features previously identified as predictive of radiation-induced sticky saliva and xerostomia.

Background And Purpose: While core to the scientific approach, reproducibility of experimental results is challenging in radiomics studies. A recent publication identified radiomics features that are predictive of late irradiation-induced toxicity in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. In this study, we assessed the generalisability of these findings.

Predicting radiotherapy-induced xerostomia in head and neck cancer patients using day-to-day kinetics of radiomics features.

Background And Purpose: The images acquired during radiotherapy for image-guidance purposes could be used to monitor patient-specific response to irradiation and improve treatment personalisation. We investigated whether the kinetics of radiomics features from daily mega-voltage CT image-guidance scans (MVCT) improve prediction of moderate-to-severe xerostomia compared to dose/volume parameters in radiotherapy of head-and-neck cancer (HNC).

Materials And Methods: All included HNC patients (N = 117) received 30 or more fractions of radiotherapy with daily MVCTs.

EPID-based in vivo dosimetry using Dosimetry Check™: Overview and clinical experience in a 5-yr study including breast, lung, prostate, and head and neck cancer patients.

Background: Independent verification of the dose delivered by complex radiotherapy can be performed by electronic portal imaging device (EPID) dosimetry. This paper presents 5-yr EPID in vivo dosimetry (IVD) data obtained using the Dosimetry Check (DC) software on a large cohort including breast, lung, prostate, and head and neck (H&N) cancer patients.

Material And Methods: The difference between in vivo dose measurements obtained by DC and point doses calculated by the Eclipse treatment planning system was obtained on 3795 radiotherapy patients treated with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) (n = 842) and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) (n = 2953) at 6, 10, and 15 MV.

Identifying the dominant prostate cancer focal lesion using image analysis and planning of a simultaneous integrated stereotactic boost.

Background: Prostate cancer is now the only solid organ cancer in which therapy is commonly applied to the whole gland. One of the main challenges in adopting focal boost or true focal therapy is in the accurate mapping of cancer foci defined on magnetic resonance (MR) images onto the computerised tomography (CT) images used for radiotherapy planning.

Material And Methods: Prostate cancer patients (n = 14) previously treated at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre (ECC) were selected for this study.