Program Information

Sensitivity of Textural Features to 3D Vs. 4D FDG-PET/CT Imaging in NSCLC Patients

F Yang*, M Nyflot , S Bowen , P Kinahan , G Sandison , University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA

Presentations

TU-F-12A-5 Tuesday 4:30PM - 6:00PM Room: 12A

Purpose: Neighborhood Gray-level difference matrices (NGLDM) based texture parameters extracted from conventional (3D) 18F-FDG PET scans in patients with NSCLC have been previously shown to associate with response to chemoradiation and poorer patient outcome. However, the change in these parameters when utilizing respiratory-correlated (4D) FDG-PET scans has not yet been characterized for NSCLC. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which NGLDM-based texture parameters on 4D PET images vary with reference to values derived from 3D scans in NSCLC.

Methods: Eight patients with newly diagnosed NSCLC treated with concomitant chemoradiotherapy were included in this study. 4D PET scans were reconstructed with OSEM-IR in 5 respiratory phase-binned images and corresponding CT data of each phase were employed for attenuation correction. NGLDM-based texture features, consisting of coarseness, contrast, busyness, complexity and strength, were evaluated for gross tumor volumes defined on 3D/4D PET scans by radiation oncologists. Variation of the obtained texture parameters over the respiratory cycle were examined with respect to values extracted from 3D scans.

Results: Differences between texture parameters derived from 4D scans at different respiratory phases and those extracted from 3D scans ranged from -30% to 13% for coarseness, -12% to 40% for contrast, -5% to 50% for busyness, -7% to 38% for complexity, and -43% to 20% for strength. Furthermore, no evident correlations were observed between respiratory phase and 4D scan texture parameters.

Conclusion: Results of the current study showed that NGLDM-based texture parameters varied considerably based on choice of 3D PET and 4D PET reconstruction of NSCLC patient images, indicating that standardized image acquisition and analysis protocols need to be established for clinical studies, especially multicenter clinical trials, intending to validate prognostic values of texture features for NSCLC.

Contact Email: