4C03-Image-Guided Radiation Therapy

Fang-Fang  Yin, PhD

Radiation Oncology

Henry Ford Hospital System

Dept of Radiation Oncology

Detroit, MI  48202

The primary purpose of radiation therapy is to delivery expected high dose to tumor volume while limiting radiation damage to normal organs/structures within tolerances. For the last several years, the rapid development of intensity-modulated radiation therapy techniques enables radiation therapy to delivery high radiation doses shaped to the treatment tumor volume. The current challenge is how to ensure the tumor volume is accurately identified as planned and the radiation dose is accurately delivered to the treatment volume as prescribed. Image-guided radiation therapy is emerging to be a critical direction for radiation therapy. In this talk, various image-guided techniques will be discussed to improve the accuracy of radiation therapy. Specific discussions will includes multi-modality imaging methods (anatomical, functional, and molecular imaging methods) for tumor identification, kV, MV and ultrasound imaging methods in the treatment room for patient setup, target localization, and treatment verification. With the image-guided techniques, cancer treatment is capable of including 4-dimentional information, i.e., the management of organ motion to minimize treatment margin added to the clinical target volume. Applications of image-guided techniques in conventional radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, stereotactic brain and body radiosurgery and hypo-fractionation radiotherapy, and 4-D simulation to verification will be discussed.