AnithaPriya Krishnan1, Delphine Davis2, Paul Okunieff3, Walter O'Dell4
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA; 2Departments of Imaging Sciences and Radiation Oncology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA; 4Departments of Radiation Oncology and Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
Current methods for determining the treatment margins needed to encompass microscopic tumor spread for Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) are inadequate as recurrences often occur at/near the boundary of the treatment margin. If our hypothesis that paths of elevated water diffusion along white matter tracts provide a preferred route for migration of tumor cells is correct, then future SRT plans would be modified accordingly to reduce the incidence of recurrence. Areas of high cell concentration as prospectively predicted by our random walk model based on MR DTI matched the subsequent appearance of secondary tumors in patients undergoing SRT for high-grade gliomas.