Automated functional image-guided radiation treatment planning for rectal cancer

Conclusion: Automated segmentation of the PET signal from rectal cancer may allow immediate and sufficiently accurate definition of a preliminary working PTV for preoperative RT. If required, correction for anatomic precision and geometric resolution may be applied in a second step. Computed PET-based target-volume definition could be useful for the definition of standardized simultaneous internal-boost volumes for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) based on biologic target volumes.