TY - JOUR
T1 - Considerable interobserver variation in delineation of pancreatic cancer on 3DCT and 4DCT
T2 - A multi-institutional study
AU - Versteijne, Eva
AU - Gurney-Champion, Oliver J.
AU - van der Horst, Astrid
AU - Lens, Eelco
AU - Kolff, M. Willemijn
AU - Buijsen, Jeroen
AU - Ebrahimi, Gati
AU - Neelis, Karen J.
AU - Rasch, Coen R.N.
AU - Stoker, Jaap
AU - van Herk, Marcel
AU - Bel, Arjan
AU - van Tienhoven, Geertjan
N1 - Funding Information: This work was in part supported by the foundation Bergh in het Zadel through the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding) project no. UVA 2011-5271. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2017/3/23
Y1 - 2017/3/23
N2 - Background: The delineation of pancreatic tumors on CT is challenging. In this study, we quantified the interobserver variation for pancreatic tumor delineation on 3DCT as well as on 4DCT. Methods: Eight observers (radiation oncologists) from six institutions delineated pancreatic tumors of four patients with (borderline) resectable pancreatic cancer. The study consisted of two stages. In the 3DCT-stage, the gross tumor volume (GTV) was delineated on a contrast-enhanced scan. In the 4DCT-stage, the internal GTV (iGTV) was delineated, accounting for the respiratory motion. We calculated the volumes of the (i)GTV, the overlap of the delineated volumes (expressed as generalized conformity index: CIgen), the local observer variation (local standard deviation: SD) and the overall observer variation (overall SD). We compared these results between GTVs and iGTVs. Additionally, observers were asked to fill out a questionnaire concerning the difficulty of the delineation and their experience in delineating pancreatic tumors. Results: The ratios of the largest to the smallest delineated GTV and iGTV within the same patient were 6.8 and 16.5, respectively. As the iGTV incorporates the GTV during all respiratory phases, the mean volumes of the iGTV (40.07 cm3) were larger than those of the GTV (29.91 cm3). For all patients, CIgen was larger for the iGTV than for the GTV. The mean overall observer variation (root-mean-square of all local SDs over four patients) was 0.63 cm and 0.80 cm for GTV and iGTV, respectively. The largest local observer variations were seen close to biliary stents and suspicious pathological enlarged lymph nodes, as some observers included them and some did not. This variation was more pronounced for the iGTV than for the GTV. The observers rated the 3DCT-stage and 4DCT-stage equally difficult and treated on average three to four pancreatic cancer patients per year. Conclusions: A considerable interobserver variation in delineation of pancreatic tumors was observed. This variation was larger for 4D than for 3D delineation. The largest local observer variation was found around biliary stents and suspicious pathological enlarged lymph nodes.
AB - Background: The delineation of pancreatic tumors on CT is challenging. In this study, we quantified the interobserver variation for pancreatic tumor delineation on 3DCT as well as on 4DCT. Methods: Eight observers (radiation oncologists) from six institutions delineated pancreatic tumors of four patients with (borderline) resectable pancreatic cancer. The study consisted of two stages. In the 3DCT-stage, the gross tumor volume (GTV) was delineated on a contrast-enhanced scan. In the 4DCT-stage, the internal GTV (iGTV) was delineated, accounting for the respiratory motion. We calculated the volumes of the (i)GTV, the overlap of the delineated volumes (expressed as generalized conformity index: CIgen), the local observer variation (local standard deviation: SD) and the overall observer variation (overall SD). We compared these results between GTVs and iGTVs. Additionally, observers were asked to fill out a questionnaire concerning the difficulty of the delineation and their experience in delineating pancreatic tumors. Results: The ratios of the largest to the smallest delineated GTV and iGTV within the same patient were 6.8 and 16.5, respectively. As the iGTV incorporates the GTV during all respiratory phases, the mean volumes of the iGTV (40.07 cm3) were larger than those of the GTV (29.91 cm3). For all patients, CIgen was larger for the iGTV than for the GTV. The mean overall observer variation (root-mean-square of all local SDs over four patients) was 0.63 cm and 0.80 cm for GTV and iGTV, respectively. The largest local observer variations were seen close to biliary stents and suspicious pathological enlarged lymph nodes, as some observers included them and some did not. This variation was more pronounced for the iGTV than for the GTV. The observers rated the 3DCT-stage and 4DCT-stage equally difficult and treated on average three to four pancreatic cancer patients per year. Conclusions: A considerable interobserver variation in delineation of pancreatic tumors was observed. This variation was larger for 4D than for 3D delineation. The largest local observer variation was found around biliary stents and suspicious pathological enlarged lymph nodes.
KW - Delineation
KW - Interobserver variation
KW - Pancreatic cancer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016160858&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13014-017-0777-0
DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13014-017-0777-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 28335780
SN - 1748-717X
VL - 12
SP - 58
JO - Radiation Oncology
JF - Radiation Oncology
IS - 1
M1 - 58
ER -