PET imaging before radiation not ideal for determining boost radiation doses

November 3, 2009

(PHILADELPHIA) Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of non-small cell lung cancer prior to receiving radiation therapy should not be the basis for determining areas that may benefit from higher doses of radiation, according to research presented by investigators at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital at the 51st ASTRO Annual Meeting (Abstract #2583/B-186).

Some studies suggest that areas that have the highest amount of hypermetabolic activity on PET scan before treatment are the areas most likely to have increased activity after treatment, according to Nitin Ohri, M.D., a resident in Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Ohri analyzed this theory in the Jefferson patient population.

"Investigators are looking to PET imaging find ways to predict if any part of the tumor would benefit from a higher radiation dose," Dr. Ohri said. "I wanted to see if residual activity on a scan after treatment correlates with the activity pattern on a scan done before treatment."

Dr. Ohri looked at the PET scans of 43 patients, of which 15 had significant activity on the scans both before and after treatment. He set up a coordinate system that divided tumors into nine regions or 17 regions for larger tumors. He then correlated the activity in the regions both before and after treatment.

He found that in some patients, the activity pattern was in similar regions before and after treatment. However, there were some patients who showed activity in completely different areas after treatment than there was before treatment.

"It's not sufficient to increase the dose to areas that are especially active on PET imaging before treatment and expect that to improve the control rate," Dr. Ohri said. "It may be more appropriate to do a scan halfway through treatment and plan additional radiation dose around that."

Source: Thomas Jefferson University (news : web)


Rank not rated yet
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 13 hours ago | popularity 4.9 / 5 (34) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Anyone can learn to be more inventive, cognitive researcher says

There will always be a wild and unpredictable quality to creativity and invention, says Anthony McCaffrey, a cognitive psychology researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, because an "Aha moment" is rare and ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created 9 hours ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers weigh in on ethics of H5N1 research

(Medical Xpress) -- In a commentary on the biosecurity controversy surrounding publication of bird flu research details, a bioethicist and a vaccine expert at Johns Hopkins reaffirm that "all scientists have an affirmativ ...

Medicine & Health / Other

created 12 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cell biologists describes mechanism by which some people may be more susceptible to colon cancer

An international research team led by cell biologists at the University of California, Riverside has uncovered a new insight into colon cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 10 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

To perform with less effort, practice beyond perfection

Whether you are an athlete, a musician or a stroke patient learning to walk again, practice can make perfect, but more practice may make you more efficient, according to a surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 12 hours ago | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 3 | with audio podcast


'Dark plasmons' transmit energy

Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University.

Hydrogen from acidic water: Researchers develop potential low cost alternative to platinum for splitting water

A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley ...

Ultraviolet protection molecule in plants yields its secrets

Lying around in the sun all day is hazardous not just for humans but also for plants, which have no means of escape. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can damage proteins and DNA inside cells, leading ...

Soraa LED light may dim 50-watt halogen rivals

(PhysOrg.com) -- Soraa, a Fremont, California company founded in 2008, this week launched its first product, a light that uses LEDS (light emitting diodes). The "Soraa LED MR16 lamp" is the "perfect" replacement ...

Flexible paper robots

(PhysOrg.com) -- These inexpensive robots can stretch, bend and twist under control, and lift objects up to 120 times their own weight. Being soft, they can apply gentle and even pressure, and adapt to varied ...

Engineers find inspiration for new materials in Piranha-proof armor

(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s a matchup worthy of a late-night cable movie: put a school of starving piranha and a 300-pound fish together, and who comes out the winner?