Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog brain tumor radiation needs MRI to target tumor fully
By Berlato, Davide et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2018·Animal Health Trust, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Canine meningiomas treated with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy require magnetic resonance imaging to avoid a geographic miss.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 22 dogs diagnosed with brain tumors called meningiomas were treated with radiation therapy. Researchers found that using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to outline the tumor provided a more accurate target compared to using computed tomography (CT) scans alone. The MRI images showed a larger tumor volume in most cases, which is important for effective treatment planning. This study suggests that combining both MRI and CT scans can help ensure that all cancerous tissue is targeted during radiation therapy, potentially improving treatment outcomes.
People also search for: dog brain tumor treatment · meningioma in dogs · radiation therapy for dog tumors
Abstract
Exact target volume definition is an essential prerequisite for modern radiotherapy treatment planning. Contouring the gross tumor volume of brain tumors on computed tomography (CT) images coregistered with magnetic resonance images is standard practice in human medicine. In this retrospective study, including only cases with an imaging diagnosis of meningioma, we hypothesized that the gross tumor volume contoured from the contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (gross tumor volume-MRI) is larger when compared to the gross tumor volume contoured using contrast-enhanced CT (gross tumor volume-CT). A total of 22 dogs were included in the study. Interestingly, there was a significant statistical difference between the gross tumor volume-CT and the gross tumor volume-MRI (P = 0.001). The gross tumor volume-MRI was larger than the gross tumor volume-CT in all, but two cases. The mean ratio between gross tumor volume-MRI and gross tumor volume-CT was 1.43 (range 0.84-4.00). The mean overlap between gross tumor volume-CT and gross tumor volume-MRI was 68% (range 22-86%), while a mean of 26% of the composite gross tumor volume was defined only by MRI (range 4-76%) and a mean of 6% only by CT (range 0-22%). These findings suggest that CT and MRI are complementary modalities in radiation planning of meningiomas and their composite volume should be used to avoid geographical miss of neoplastic tissue. When the MRI is not available for planning, a margin of 0.3 cm around the gross tumor volume-CT could reduce the probability of a geographical miss. However, such numerical correction cannot be applied to the clinical practice until it is validated in a properly designed treatment planning study.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29956402/