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Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether the preradiation maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the primary tumor for [(18)F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) has a prognostic significance in patients with Stage T1 or T2N0 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with curative radiation therapy, whether conventional or stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)., Methods and Materials: Between January 2007 and December 2011, a total of 163 patients (180 tumors) with medically inoperable histologically proven Stage T1 or T2N0 NSCLC and treated with radiation therapy (both conventional and SBRT) were entered in a research ethics board approved database. All patients received pretreatment FDG-PET / computed tomography (CT) at 1 institution with consistent acquisition technique. The medical records and radiologic images of these patients were analyzed., Results: The overall survival at 2 years and 3 years for the whole group was 76% and 67%, respectively. The mean and median SUVmax were 8.1 and 7, respectively. Progression-free survival at 2 years with SUVmax <7 was better than that of the patients with tumor SUVmax ≥7 (67% vs 51%; P=.0096). Tumors with SUVmax ≥7 were associated with a worse regional recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. In the multivariate analysis, SUVmax ≥7 was an independent prognostic factor for distant metastasis-free survival., Conclusion: In early-stage NSCLC managed with radiation alone, patients with SUVmax ≥7 on FDG-PET / CT scan have poorer outcomes and high risk of progression, possibly because of aggressive biology. There is a potential role for adjuvant therapies for these high-risk patients with intent to improve outcomes., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of modeling Stage III lung cancer tumor and node positions from anatomical surrogates., Methods and Materials: To localize their centroids, the primary tumor and lymph nodes from 16 Stage III lung cancer patients were contoured in 10 equal-phase planning four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) image sets. The centroids of anatomical respiratory surrogates (carina, xyphoid, nipples, mid-sternum) in each image set were also localized. The correlations between target and surrogate positions were determined, and ordinary least-squares (OLS) and partial least-squares (PLS) regression models based on a subset of respiratory phases (three to eight randomly selected) were created to predict the target positions in the remaining images. The three-phase image sets that provided the best predictive information were used to create models based on either the carina alone or all surrogates., Results: The surrogate most correlated with target motion varied widely. Depending on the number of phases used to build the models, mean OLS and PLS errors were 1.0 to 1.4 mm and 0.8 to 1.0 mm, respectively. Models trained on the 0%, 40%, and 80% respiration phases had mean (+/- standard deviation) PLS errors of 0.8 +/- 0.5 mm and 1.1 +/- 1.1 mm for models based on all surrogates and carina alone, respectively. For target coordinates with motion >5 mm, the mean three-phase PLS error based on all surrogates was 1.1 mm., Conclusions: Our results establish the feasibility of inferring primary tumor and nodal motion from anatomical surrogates in 4D CT scans of Stage III lung cancer. Using inferential modeling to decrease the processing time of 4D CT scans may facilitate incorporation of patient-specific treatment margins., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Respiratory-gated radiotherapy allows for the reduction of the toxicity associated with concomitant chemoradiotherapy, but the smaller fields used could increase the risk of missing the target. A prospective study was performed to evaluate the dosimetric consequences of time-trend changes in patients with lung cancer who were treated with concomitant chemoradiotherapy., Methods and Materials: A total of 24 lung cancer patients eligible for chemoradiotherapy and gated delivery underwent four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) after 15 fractions. This scan was co-registered with the initial planning 4D-CT and a new planning target volume (PTV) was generated on the basis of the tumor visualized after 15 fractions. Coverage of the repeat PTV was evaluated by applying the original plan to the second scan and recalculating the dose. Plan modification was triggered by a 5% reduction in the PTV included within the 95% isodose volume or an unacceptable increase in the critical organ dose., Results: Of the 21 evaluable patients, 15 had an average reduction in the PTV of 8% after 30 Gy. The PTV increased in the remaining 6 patients, but the increase was >20% in only 1 patient. In the latter patient, disease progression was observed, and repeat planning was required. The plans created using the new PTV were acceptable in all the other patients., Conclusion: The role of adaptive radiotherapy appears limited when respiratory-gated radiotherapy is used to reduce the toxicity related to concomitant chemoradiotherapy. The use of more conformal treatment techniques might provide the rationale for repeat imaging as a method to identify patients at risk of dosimetric miss.

Purpose: The motion of mediastinal lymph nodes may undermine local control with involved-field radiotherapy. We studied patterns of nodal and tumor motion in 41 patients with lung cancer., Methods and Materials: Four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography planning scans were retrospectively evaluated to identify patients with clearly visible mediastinal lymph nodes. One hundred nodes from 14 patients with Stage I and 27 patients with Stage III were manually contoured in all 4D computed tomography respiratory phases. Motion was derived from changes in the nodal center-of-mass position. Primary tumors were also delineated in all phases for 16 patients with Stage III disease. Statistical analysis included a multivariate mixed-effects model of grouped data., Results: Average 3D nodal motion during quiet breathing was 0.68 cm (range, 0.17-1.64 cm); 77% moved greater than 0.5 cm, and 10% moved greater than 1.0 cm. Motion was greatest in the lower mediastinum (p = 0.002), and nodes measuring 2 cm or greater in diameter showed motion similar to that in smaller nodes. In 11 of 16 patients studied, at least one node moved more than the corresponding primary tumor. No association between 3D primary tumor motion and nodal motion was observed. For mobile primary tumors, phase offsets between the primary tumor and nodes of two or more and three or more phases were observed for 33% and 12% of nodes, respectively., Conclusions: Mediastinal nodal motion is common, with phase offsets seen between the primary tumor and different nodes in the same patient. Patient-specific information is needed to ensure geometric coverage, and adaptive strategies based solely on the primary tumor may be misleading.