Radiomics-guided radiation therapy: opportunities and challenges

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiotherapy
• Biomarkers

Background:

• Radiomics extracts quantitative imaging features for personalized medicine.
• Applications span disease detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy response assessment.
• Radiation therapy seeks individualized treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the concept of radiomics-guided radiation therapy (RGRT).
• To highlight opportunities and challenges of using radiomics in radiation therapy.
• To provide recommendations for improving future radiotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Review of radiomics applications in radiation therapy.
• Identification of RGRT's value across radiotherapy stages.
• Analysis of opportunities and challenges.

Main Results:

• Radiomics offers significant value in patient selection, treatment planning, and follow-up.
• RGRT can enhance the effectiveness of radiation treatments.
• Key opportunities and challenges for RGRT implementation were identified.

Conclusions:

• Radiomics-guided radiation therapy (RGRT) holds promise for personalized cancer care.
• Further research and development are needed to overcome challenges.
• Quantitative imaging features can optimize radiotherapy delivery and outcomes.