The Role of CT and MR Imaging in Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy of the Spine: From Patient Selection and Treatment Planning to Post-Treatment Monitoring

Javid Azadbakht; Amy Condos; David Haynor; Wende N Gibbs; Pejman Jabehdar Maralani; Arjun Sahgal; Samuel T Chao; Matthew C Foote; John Suh; Eric L Chang; Matthias Guckenberger; Mahmud Mossa-Basha; Simon S Lo

doi:10.3390/cancers16213692

The Role of CT and MR Imaging in Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy of the Spine: From Patient Selection and Treatment Planning to Post-Treatment Monitoring

Cancers (Basel). 2024 Oct 31;16(21):3692. doi: 10.3390/cancers16213692.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
² Department of Radiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA.
³ Department of Medical Imaging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada.
⁴ Department of Radiation Oncology, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada.
⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia.
⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Zürich and University of Zürich, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
⁹ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

Abstract

Spine metastases (SMs) are common, arising in 70% of the cases of the most prevalent malignancies in males (prostate cancer) and females (breast cancer). Stereotactic body radiotherapy, or SBRT, has been incorporated into clinical treatment algorithms over the past decade. SBRT has shown promising rates of local control for oligometastatic spinal lesions with low radiation dose to adjacent critical tissues, particularly the spinal cord. Imaging is critically important in SBRT planning, guidance, and response monitoring. This paper reviews the roles of imaging in spine SBRT, including conventional and advanced imaging approaches for SM detection, treatment planning, and post-SBRT follow-up.

Keywords: MRI; diffusion imaging; metastasis; perfusion imaging; spine; stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.