title: Imaging across the life span: innovations in imaging and therapy for gynecologic cancer.
abstract: The focus of this article is radiation therapy for gynecologic cancers, with emphasis on imaging-based treatment planning and delivery. For the various gynecologic cancers, radiation oncologists rely on essential clinical information to triage treatment options, and various imaging studies are performed for treatment planning and radiation therapy delivery. A practical approach is provided to help radiologists tailor their reports for the needs of their radiation oncology and gynecologic oncology colleagues, to optimize multidisciplinary care for patients with gynecologic cancer. Template radiology reports are proposed to address the specific information needs of oncologists at each phase-before, during, and after treatment. Fueled by the rapid progress in engineering and computer sciences during the past 2 decades, remarkable advances have been made in anatomic, functional, and molecular imaging and in radiation treatment planning and delivery in patients with gynecologic cancer. Radiation therapy has evolved from a nontargeted approach to a precisely targeted, highly conformal treatment modality, to further improve treatment outcomes and reduce morbidity. High-quality imaging has become essential for staging of the disease, delineation of tumor extent for treatment planning and delivery, and monitoring therapy response. Anatomic and functional imaging has also been shown to provide prognostic information that allows clinicians to tailor therapy on the basis of personalized patient information. This field is an area of active research, and future clinical trials are warranted to validate preliminary results in the field.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Radiation Oncology (M.X., A.S.A.), Radiology (G.J., J.Z.), and Obstetrics and Gynecology (F.J.B.), Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (J.R.F.); Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md (K.J.M.); Department of Radiation Oncology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC (Z.H.); and Departments of Radiology (W.T.C.Y., M.M.) and Radiation Oncology (N.A.M.), University of Washington Medical Center, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195-6043.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu-Welliver
authors.forename: William T C
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Yuh
authors.forename: Julia R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fielding
authors.forename: Katarzyna J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Macura
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ahmet S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ayan
authors.forename: Floor J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Backes
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moshiri
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Nina A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mayr
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D003944:Diagnostic Techniques, Obstetrical and Gynecological; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis