Integration of functional imaging in brachytherapy.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Brachytherapy is a crucial cancer treatment modality.
• Functional imaging offers insights into biological properties relevant to cancer management.
• Current integration of functional imaging in brachytherapy is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current integration of functional imaging in brachytherapy.
• To explore the future potential of functional imaging in brachytherapy.
• To identify challenges in clinical implementation.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of functional imaging applications in brachytherapy.
• Analysis of functional imaging's role in staging, treatment planning, and follow-up.
• Discussion of potential biomarkers and dose-painting strategies.

Main Results:

• Functional imaging aids in disease staging and patient selection for brachytherapy.
• It can improve target volume definition and enable dose escalation via dose-painting.
• Functional imaging is valuable for assessing treatment response during follow-up.

Conclusions:

• Functional imaging holds significant promise for optimizing brachytherapy.
• Further research is required to overcome challenges for widespread clinical adoption.
• Key areas for development include biomarker validation and dose-painting implementation.