Impact of endorectal filling on interobserver variability of MRI based rectal primary tumor delineation Journal Article


Authors: Lo Russo, M.; Nachbar, M.; Barry, A.; Bhide, S.; Chang, A.; Hall, W.; Intven, M.; Marijnen, C.; Peters, F.; Minsky, B.; Romesser, P. B.; Sarkar, R.; Tan, A.; Boeke, S.; Wegener, D.; Butzer, S.; Boldt, J.; Gatidis, S.; Nikolaou, K.; Thorwarth, D.; Zips, D.; Gani, C.
Article Title: Impact of endorectal filling on interobserver variability of MRI based rectal primary tumor delineation
Abstract: Background: Online adaptive MR-guided radiotherapy allows for the reduction of safety margins in dose escalated treatment of rectal tumors. With the use of smaller margins, precise tumor delineation becomes more critical. In the present study we investigated the impact of rectal ultrasound gel filling on interobserver variability in delineation of primary rectal tumor volumes. Methods: Six patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were scanned on a 1.5 T MRI-Linac without (MRI_e) and with application of 100 cc of ultrasound gel transanally (MRI_f). Eight international radiation oncologists expert in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers delineated the gross tumor volume (GTV) on both MRI scans. MRI_f scans were provided to the participating centers after MRI_e scans had been returned. Interobserver variability was analyzed by either comparing the observers' delineations with a reference delineation (approach 1) and by building all possible pairs between observers (approach 2). Dice Similarity Index (DICE) and 95 % Hausdorff-Distance (95 %HD) were calculated. Results: Rectal ultrasound gel filling was well tolerated by all patients. Overall, interobserver agreement was superior in MRI_f scans based on median DICE (0.81 vs 0.74, p < 0.005 for approach 1 and 0.76 vs 0.64, p < 0.0001 for approach 2) and 95 %HD (6.9 mm vs 4.2 mm for approach 1, p = 0.04 and 8.9 mm vs 6.1 mm, p = 0.04 for approach 2). Delineated median tumor volumes and inter-quartile ranges were 26.99 cc [18.01-50.34 cc] in MRI_e and 44.20 [19.72-61.59 cc] in MRI_f scans respectively, p = 0.012. Conclusions: Although limited by the small number of patients, in this study the application of rectal ultrasound gel resulted in higher interobserver agreement in rectal GTV delineation. The endorectal gel filling might be a useful tool for future dose escalation strategies.
Keywords: boost; chemoradiation; rectal cancer; agreement; preoperative radiotherapy; dose-escalation; inter-observer; cancer; mri-linac; mr-guided radiotherapy
Journal Title: Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology
Volume: 38
ISSN: 2405-6308
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.  
Date Published: 2023-01-01
Start Page: 1
End Page: 5
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:000927150300001
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctro.2022.09.002
PROVIDER: wos
PMCID: PMC9589000
PUBMED: 36299279
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in the PDF -- Source: Wos
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MSK Authors
  1. Paul Bernard Romesser
    192 Romesser
  2. Reith Roy Sarkar
    26 Sarkar