Quantitative Radiology Reporting in Oncology: Survey of Oncologists and Radiologists

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Cancer Research

Background:

• Accurate tumor quantification is crucial for evaluating cancer treatment efficacy.
• Current reporting methods for tumor burden and measurements in clinical trials are often insufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To gather oncologists' and radiologists' opinions on quantitative, interactive, and multimedia reporting methods.
• To assess preferences for reporting tumor measurements in cancer trials.

Main Methods:

• Online surveys were distributed to 253 oncologists and 35 radiologists.
• Questions focused on current reporting practices, Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) measurements, and preferred reporting formats.

Main Results:

• A majority of oncologists and radiologists found traditional qualitative reports inadequate for tumor burden assessment.
• Both groups favored hyperlinked measurements from reports to images over text-only reports.
• Most oncologists preferred managing tumor measurements within a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) over manual data entry.

Conclusions:

• Quantitative interactive reporting is considered superior to traditional text-only reporting for assessing tumor burden in cancer trials.
• A PACS reporting system can enhance collaboration and improve quantitative tumor reporting between radiologists and oncologists.