Whole-lung tissue transfer time constants for(129)Xe (TTr_tissue) can be used to detect the early phase of RILI in a rat model involving 14 Gy thoracic (60)Co exposure as early as two weeks post-irradiation. This knowledge combined with more sophisticated models of gas exchange and imaging techniques, may allow functional lung avoidance radiation therapy planning to be achievable, providing more beneficial treatment plans and improved quality of life for recovering lung cancer patients.

Intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has become a standard technique in radiation therapy for treating different types of cancers. Various class solutions have been developed for simple cases (e.g., localized prostate, whole breast) to generate IMRT plans efficiently. However, for more complex cases (e.g., head and neck, pelvic nodes), it can be time‐consuming for a planner to generate optimized IMRT plans. To generate optimal plans in these more complex cases which generally have multiple target volumes and organs at risk, it is often required to have additional IMRT optimization structures such as dose limiting ring structures, adjust beam geometry, select inverse planning objectives and associated weights, and additional IMRT objectives to reduce cold and hot spots in the dose distribution. These parameters are generally manually adjusted with a repeated trial and error approach during the optimization process. To improve IMRT planning efficiency in these more complex cases, an iterative method that incorporates some of these adjustment processes automatically in a planning script is designed, implemented, and validated. In particular, regional optimization has been implemented in an iterative way to reduce various hot or cold spots during the optimization process that begins with defining and automatic segmentation of hot and cold spots, introducing new objectives and their relative weights into inverse planning, and turn this into an iterative process with termination criteria. The method has been applied to three clinical sites: prostate with pelvic nodes, head and neck, and anal canal cancers, and has shown to reduce IMRT planning time significantly for clinical applications with improved plan quality. The IMRT planning scripts have been used for more than 500 clinical cases.PACS numbers: 87.55.D, 87.55.de

In conclusion, it is feasible to use SPECT ventilation scans to optimize IMRT beam direction and, subsequently, to reduce dose to ventilated lung when overlap of the PTV and the ventilated lung is minimal and that the PTV is not surrounded by the ventilated lung. The potential benefit of ventilation SPECT scanning can be determined by preplanning assessment of overlap volumes and the AAMvLD.

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Hyperpolarized (129) Xe MRI provides a way to detect and measure regional microanatomical changes in lung parenchyma in a preclinical model of RILI. Magn Reson Med 75:2421-2431, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the leading cause of high fatality cancer arising within the adult brain. Electrotherapeutic approaches offer new promise for GBM treatment by exploiting innate vulnerabilities of cancer cells to low intensity electric fields. This report describes the preclinical outcomes of a novel electrotherapeutic strategy called Intratumoral Modulation Therapy (IMT) that uses an implanted stimulation system to deliver sustained, titratable, low intensity electric fields directly across GBM-affected brain regions. This pilot technology was applied to in vitro and animal models demonstrating significant and marked reduction in tumor cell viability and a cumulative impact of concurrent IMT and chemotherapy in GBM. No off target neurological effects were observed in treated subjects. Computational modeling predicted IMT field optimization as a means to further bolster treatment efficacy. This sentinel study provides new support for defining the potential of IMT strategies as part of a more effective multimodality treatment platform for GBM.

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