Journal
NUCLEAR MEDICINE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 42, Issue 10, Pages 1064-1075Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/MNM.0000000000001439
Keywords
lung; microspheres; pneumonitis; radiation dose; radioembolization
Funding
- Boston Scientific
- GE Healthcare
- Terumo Medical
- Terumo
- Quirem
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Radioembolization is an established treatment for unresectable liver tumors, with advancements in liver dosimetry but lacking in lung dosimetry. A systematic review and update of lung dose limits is necessary to advance the practice of radioembolization. New clinical evidence challenges historical data on lung dose limits, prompting a staged approach for improving lung dosimetry and the overall practice of radioembolization.
Radioembolization, also known as selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), is an established treatment for the management of patients with unresectable liver tumors. Advances in liver dosimetry and new knowledge about tumor dose-response relationships have helped promote the well-tolerated use of higher prescribed doses, consequently transitioning radioembolization from palliative to curative therapy. Lung dosimetry, unfortunately, has not seen the same advances in dose calculation methodology and renewed consensus in dose limits as normal liver and tumor dosimetry. Therefore, the efficacy of curative radioembolization may be compromised in patients where the current lung dose calculations unnecessarily limit the administered activity. The field is thus at a stage where a systematic review and update of lung dose limits is necessary to advance the clinical practice of radioembolization. This work summarizes the historical context and literature for origins of the current lung dose limits following radioembolization, that is, the 25-year-old, single institution, small patient cohort series that helped establish the lung shunt fraction and dose limits. Newer clinical evidence based on larger patient cohorts that challenges the historical data on lung dose limits are then discussed. We conclude by revisiting the rationale for current lung dose limits and by proposing a staged approach to advance the field of lung dosimetry and thus the practice of radioembolization as a whole.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available