13 Definition of Target Volume and Organs at Risk. Biological Target
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Defi nition of Target Volume and Organs at Risk. Biological Target Volume 167 13 Defi nition of Target Volume and Organs at Risk. Biological Target Volume Anca-Ligia Grosu, Lisa D. Sprague, and Michael Molls CONTENTS into consideration: the results of radiological and clinical investigations; tumour staging; surgical and 13.1 Introduction 167 histo-pathological reports; other additional treat- 13.2 Defi nition of Target Volume 168 13.2.1 Gross Target Volume 168 ments such as chemotherapy; immune therapy; the 13.2.2 Clinical Target Volume 168 patient’s history; the anatomy of the region to be irra- 13.2.3 Internal Target Volume 169 diated; and the acceptance of the patient concerning 13.2.4 Planning Target Volume 169 radiation treatment. But also the technique used for 13.2.5 Treated Volume 169 irradiation, including the patient’s positioning and 13.2.6 Irradiated Volume 169 13.3 Defi nition of Organs at Risk 169 fi xation, are of major importance. As a consequence, 13.4 New Concepts in Target Volume Defi nition: the complexity of the process when defi ning the tar- Biological Target Volume 170 get volume requires sound clinical judgement and 13.4.1 Where is the Tumour Located and Where Are the knowledge from the radiation oncologist. (Macroscopic) Tumour Margins? 170 Three-dimensional conformal treatment plan- 13.4.1.1 Lung Cancer 170 13.4.1.2 Head and Neck Cancer 172 ning in radiation oncology is based on radiological 13.4.1.3 Prostate Cancer 172 imaging, CT and MRI. These investigative techniques 13.4.1.4 Brain Gliomas 172 show the anatomical structures with a high accuracy. 13.4.2 Which Relevant Biological Properties of the Both CT and MRI image tumour tissue by taking ad- Tumour Could Represent an Appropriate Biological vantage of the differences in tissue density (or signal Target for Radiation Therapy? 173 13.4.3 What is the Biological Tumour Response to intensity in MRI), contrast enhancement or the abil- Therapy? 174 ity to accumulate water (oedema). But these signals 13.5 Conclusion 175 are not specifi c to tumour tissue alone. They can also References 176 be observed after a trauma or surgery, or infl amma- tory or vascular disease. This can hamper diagnosis and delineation of a tumour, and represents the most important limitation of these traditional radiological investigation techniques. 13.1 Biological imaging visualises biological pathways. Introduction Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon computed emission tomography (SPECT) are The defi nition of the target volume and of critical characterised by visualising a tumour using radioac- structures is a crucial and complex process in three- tive tracers. These tracers have a higher affi nity for dimensional conformal radiation therapy. In a plan- tumorous tissue in comparison with normal tissue. ning system, based either on computed topography Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) imaging (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the ra- provides information on the biological activity of a diation oncologist is required to outline the target tumour based on the levels of cellular metabolites; volume to be irradiated, and the organs of risk to therefore, the information obtained from different be spared, because of possible side effects. In this imaging modalities is in general complementary by process, a multitude of information has to be taken nature. This chapter discusses the standard concepts de- fi ned in the ICRU report 50 (ICRU 50 1993) and the A.-L. Grosu, MD; L.D. Sprague, PhD; M. Molls, MD Department of Radiation Oncology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, ICRU report 62 (ICRU 62 1999). Additionally, we dis- Technical University Munich, Ismaningerstrasse 22, 81675 cuss the impact of biological investigations in target Munich, Germany volume delineation. 168 A.-L. Grosu et al. 13.2 sue and is surrounded by perifocal oedema. Based on Defi nition of Target Volume these radiological characteristics, the radiation oncol- ogist has to outline on each section the areas of gross Both ICRU report 50 from 1993 and ICRU report tumour tissue. The demarcation of the GTV needs 62 from 1999 standardised the nomenclature used profound radiological knowledge. The technique used for three-dimensional conformal treatment planning for the CT or MRI investigation and the window and and thus gave the community of radiation oncolo- level settings have to be appropriate for the anatomical gists a consistent language and guidelines for image- region. The volume of the gross tumour tissue visu- based target volume delineation. The following terms alised on CT or MRI should correspond to the volume were defi ned: gross tumour volume (GTV); the clini- of the actual macroscopic tumour extension. cal target volume (CTV); the internal target volume A major problem when delineating residual tu- (ITV); the planning target volume (PTV); the treated mour tissue in surgically treated patients is the rec- volume; and the irradiated volume (Fig. 13.1). ognition and differentiation of changes caused by surgery itself. But also contrast enhancement, oe- dema and hyper- or hypodensity (intensity) of the tissue can cause diffi culties, ultimately resulting in inaccurate GTV delineation. Sometimes it is extremely diffi cult or even impos- sible to delineate the gross tumour mass when using conventional radiological investigation techniques such as CT and MRI. An example is the visualisation of prostate cancer with current imaging methods (CT, MRI, sonography). In this case, for three-dimen- sional treatment planning, the radiation oncologist delineates the prostate encompassing the GTV and the clinical target volume (CTV). Fig. 13.1. Concepts used in target volume defi nition for radia- tion treatment. An accurate delineation of tumour tissue should focus the irradiation dose on the GTV and spare sur- rounding normal tissue. New investigative techniques, 13.2.1 such as positron emission tomography PET, SPECT Gross Target Volume and MRS, visualise tumour tissue with a higher speci- fi city. It seems likely that these techniques will help The gross tumour volume (GTV) is the macroscopic in the future to delineate tumour tissue with higher (gross) extent of the tumour as determined by radio- precision. The possibility to integrate these “biologi- logical and clinical investigations (palpation, inspec- cal” investigative techniques in GTV defi nition is dis- tion). The GTV-primary (GTV-P) defi nes the area of cussed in the section “Biological Target Volume”. the primary tumour and GTV-nodal (GTV-N) the macroscopically involved lymph nodes. The GTV is obtained by summarising the area outlined by the ra- 13.2.2 diation oncologist in each section, multiplied by the Clinical Target Volume thickness of each section. The extension of the GTV is of major importance for the treatment strategy: The GTV, together with the surrounding microscopic in many cases the gross tumour tissue is irradiated tumour infi ltration, constitutes the primary clinical with higher doses, as it is encompassed within the target volume CTV (CTV-P). It is important to men- boost volume. The GTV can represent the total vol- tion that the defi nition of the CTV-P also includes the ume of the primary tumour, the macroscopic residual tumour bed, which has to be irradiated after a complete tumour tissue after partial tumour resection or the macroscopic tumour resection, in both R0 (complete region of recurrence after either surgical, radiation microscopic resection) and R1 (microscopic residual or chemotherapeutic treatment. tumour on the margin of the tumour bed) situation. The delineation of the GTV is usually based on data Moreover, for CTV-P defi nition, anatomical tumour obtained from CT and MRI. In general, tumour tissue characteristics have to be considered, such as the likeli- shows contrast enhancement, has a different density hood of perineural and perivascular extension or tu- (CT) or intensity (MRI) compared with the normal tis- mour spread along anatomical borders. As the margins Defi nition of Target Volume and Organs at Risk. Biological Target Volume 169 between CTV and GTV are not homogenous, they have reduced and the dose applied to the GTV/CTV can to be adjusted to the probable microscopic tumour be escalated. spread. The CTV-nodal (CTV-N) defi nes the assumed microscopic lymphatic tumour spread, which has also to be included in the radiation treatment planning. 13.2.5 Treated Volume 13.2.3 The treated volume is the volume of tumour and Internal Target Volume surrounding normal tissue included in an isodose surface representing the irradiation dose proposed The internal target volume (ITV) is a term intro- for the treatment. As a rule this corresponds to the duced by the ICRU report 62. The ITV encompasses 95% isodose. Ideally, the treated volume should cor- the GTV/CTV plus internal margins to the GTV/CTV, respond to the PTV; however, in many cases the caused by possible physiological movements of or- treated volume exceeds the PTV. The coherence of gans and tumour, due to respiration, pulsation, fi ll- an irradiation plan can be described/illustrated as the ing of the rectum, or variations of tumour size and correlation between PTV and treated volume. shape, etc. It is defi ned in relation to internal ref- erence points, most often rigid bone structures, in an internal patient coordinate system. Observation 13.2.6 of internal margins is diffi cult, in many cases even Irradiated Volume impossible. Examples for reducing internal margins are the fi xation of the rectum with a balloon during The irradiated volume is a volume included in an irradiation of the prostate or body fi xation and ad- isodose surface with a possible biological impact on ministration of oxygen to reduce respiration move- the normal tissue encompassed in this volume; there- ments during stereotactic radiotherapy. fore, the irradiated volume depends on the selected isodose curve and the normal tissue surrounding the tumour.