Application of Artificial Intelligence in Radiation Oncology

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Methods and Technologies Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 1627

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Interests: image-guided intervention; multimodality medical imaging; machine learning

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Guest Editor
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Interests: radiation therapy; segmentation; deep learning
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Guest Editor
Department of Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
Interests: image segmentation; image synthesizing; diffusion models

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Radiation oncology has long been at the forefront of technological innovation in cancer treatment. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) marks a pivotal advancement, gaining consensus as the fourth industrial revolution. This Special Issue focuses on the integration of AI in radiation oncology, medical physics, and cancer biology, highlighting the substantial research and innovations that have emerged.

We invite submissions that explore the application of AI in various areas, including but not limited to the following:

  • Improving medical imaging and diagnostics;
  • Target and organ segmentation;
  • Treatment planning and optimization;
  • Adaptive radiation therapy;
  • Predictive modeling of treatment outcomes;
  • Enhancing patient safety and quality assurance;
  • Automating clinical workflows;
  • Personalizing cancer treatment;
  • Identifying biomarkers for treatment response.

Contributions that address ethical considerations and other related topics on AI in radiation oncology are also welcome.

Dr. Xiaofeng Yang
Dr. Lei Qiu
Dr. Tonghe Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • artificial intelligence
  • radiation oncology
  • medical physics
  • cancer biology
  • medical imaging
  • segmentation
  • treatment planning
  • adaptive radiation therapy
  • predictive modeling
  • patient safety
  • clinical workflows
  • personalized treatment
  • biomarkers

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

10 pages, 4731 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Evaluation of a Fully Automated Planning Solution for Prostate-Only and Whole-Pelvic Radiotherapy
by Jessica Prunaretty, Baris Ungun, Remi Vauclin, Madalina Costea, Norbert Bus, Nikos Paragios and Pascal Fenoglietto
Cancers 2024, 16(22), 3735; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16223735 - 5 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1208
Abstract
Background/Objectives: To evaluate an end-to-end pipeline for normo-fractionated prostate-only and whole-pelvic cancer treatments that requires minimal human input and generates a machine-deliverable plan as an output. Methods: In collaboration with TheraPanacea, a treatment planning pipeline was developed that takes as its [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: To evaluate an end-to-end pipeline for normo-fractionated prostate-only and whole-pelvic cancer treatments that requires minimal human input and generates a machine-deliverable plan as an output. Methods: In collaboration with TheraPanacea, a treatment planning pipeline was developed that takes as its input a planning CT with organs-at-risk (OARs) and planning target volume (PTV) contours, the targeted linac machine, and the prescription dose. The primary components are (i) dose prediction by a single deep learning model for both localizations and (ii) a direct aperture VMAT plan optimization that seeks to mimic the predicted dose. The deep learning model was trained on 238 cases, and a held-out set of 86 cases was used for model validation. An end-to-end clinical evaluation study was performed on another 40 cases (20 prostate-only, 20 whole-pelvic). First, a quantitative evaluation was performed based on dose–volume histogram (DVH) points and plan parameter metrics. Then, the plan deliverability was assessed via portal dosimetry using the global gamma index. Additionally, the reference clinical manual plans were compared with the automated plans in terms of monitor unit (MU) numbers and modulation complexity scores (MCSv). Results: The automated plans provided adequate treatment plans (or minor deviations) with respect to the dose constraints, and the quality of the plans was similar to the manual plans for both localizations. Moreover, the automated plans showed successful deliverability and passed the portal dose verification. Despite higher median total MUs, no statistically significant correlation was observed between any of the gamma criteria tested and the number of MUs or MCSv. Conclusions: This study shows the feasibility of a deep learning-based fully automated treatment planning pipeline that generates high-quality plans that are competitive with manually made plans and are clinically approved in terms of dosimetry and machine deliverability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Artificial Intelligence in Radiation Oncology)
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