Imaging across the life span: innovations in imaging and therapy for gynecologic cancer

The focus of this article is radiation therapy for gynecologic cancers, with emphasis on imaging-based treatment planning and delivery. For the various gynecologic cancers, radiation oncologists rely on essential clinical information to triage treatment options, and various imaging studies are performed for treatment planning and radiation therapy delivery. A practical approach is provided to help radiologists tailor their reports for the needs of their radiation oncology and gynecologic oncology colleagues, to optimize multidisciplinary care for patients with gynecologic cancer. Template radiology reports are proposed to address the specific information needs of oncologists at each phase-before, during, and after treatment. Fueled by the rapid progress in engineering and computer sciences during the past 2 decades, remarkable advances have been made in anatomic, functional, and molecular imaging and in radiation treatment planning and delivery in patients with gynecologic cancer. Radiation therapy has evolved from a nontargeted approach to a precisely targeted, highly conformal treatment modality, to further improve treatment outcomes and reduce morbidity. High-quality imaging has become essential for staging of the disease, delineation of tumor extent for treatment planning and delivery, and monitoring therapy response. Anatomic and functional imaging has also been shown to provide prognostic information that allows clinicians to tailor therapy on the basis of personalized patient information. This field is an area of active research, and future clinical trials are warranted to validate preliminary results in the field.