Computerized analysis of mesothelioma on CT scans

Computed tomography (CT) has become an essential tool for monitoring the progression of mesothelioma tumor or a patient's response to treatment. Despite the accepted role of CT for the evaluation of mesothelioma, however, the current standard practice remains the manual measurement of tumor extent on CT scans. The process of manual measurement acquisition is tedious and subject to inconsistency. We have quantitatively assessed the variability of manual mesothelioma measurements both in baseline CT scans and in the context of tumor response classification across temporally sequential scans. To facilitate the acquisition of mesothelioma measurements, we have developed and evaluated computerized methods for the assessment of mesothelioma tumor thickness on CT scans; we anticipate that such computer-assisted approaches will make the radiologic assessment of mesothelioma more efficient, thus facilitating the establishment of improved clinical protocols.