[18F]fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake Patterns in Lung Before Radiotherapy Identify Areas More Susceptible to Radiation-Induced Lung Toxicity in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients

The risk of RILT increased with the 95th percentile of the [18F]FDG uptake in the lungs, excluding clinical tumor volume (OR = 4.3). The effect became more pronounced as the fraction of the 5%, 10%, and 20% highest standardized uptake value voxels that received more than 2 Gy to 5 Gy increased. Therefore, the risk of RILT may be decreased by applying sophisticated radiotherapy techniques to avoid areas in the lung with high [18F]FDG uptake.