Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Learning Modern Laryngeal Surgery in a Dissection Laboratory
Published on: March 18, 2020
The accuracy of target delineation in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer
Joana Caldas-Magalhaes1, Nina Kooij, Hans Ligtenberg
1a Department of Radiotherapy , University Medical Center Utrecht , The Netherlands.
Background And Purpose:
To determine the spatial correspondence between the gross tumor volume (GTV) delineated on computer tomography (CT) and the actual tumor on histopathology.
Material And Methods:
Sixteen patients with T3 or T4 laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer underwent a CT scan before total laryngectomy. The GTV was delineated on CT by three independent observers and by consensus between the three observers. After surgery, whole-mount hematoxylin-eosin stained (H&E) sections were obtained. One pathologist delineated the tumor in the H&E sections (tumorH&E). The reconstructed specimen was registered to the CT scan in order to compare the GTV to the tumorH&E in three dimensions. The overlap between the GTV and the tumorH&E was calculated and the distance between the volumes was determined.
Results:
Tumor tissue was delineated in 203 of 516 H&E sections. For 14 patients a detailed analysis could be performed. The GTV volume was on average 1.7 times larger than the volume of the tumorH&E. The mean coverage of the tumorH&E by the consensus GTV was 88%. tumorH&E tissue was found at 1.6 mm to 12.9 mm distance outside the GTV depending on observer and patient.
Conclusions:
GTVs delineated on CT for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer were 1.7 times larger than the tumor. Complete coverage of the tumor by the GTV was, however, not obtained.
