Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and other types of metabolic imaging for radiotherapy planning in adult and pediatric high-grade gliomas

摘要

Radiation therapy improves survival in high-grade gliomas but most patients relapse and usually within radiation fields. This may be due to uncertainties in target delineation and difficulties in identifying radioresistant regions for dose escalation. The use of T1 and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coregistration on the planning CT improves the target volume definition but magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) and other types of metabolic and functional imaging (perfusion MRI, diffusion-weighted MRI, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging) may give useful additional information for target delineation. This article focuses on the potential of each imaging modality: assessment of response to treatment, detection of abnormalities not seen on MRI, predictive value for the site of local relapse. The incorporation of such techniques may improve target volume definition.