Follow up results of a prospective study to evaluate the impact of FDG-PET on CT-based radiotherapy treatment planning for oesophageal cancer

Abstract

Background This prospective study aims to determine the impact of PET/CT on radiotherapy planning and outcomes in patients with oesophageal cancer. Methods All patients underwent PET/CT scanning in the radiotherapy treatment position, and received treatment planned using the PET/CT dataset. GTV was defined separately on PET/CT (GTV-PET) and CT (GTV-CT) datasets. A corresponding PTV was generated for each patient. Volumetric and spatial analysis quantified the proportion of FDG-avid disease not included in CT-based volumes. Clinical data was collected to determine locoregional control and overall survival rates. Results 13 (24.1%) of 57 accrued patients had metastatic disease detected on PET...