Journal of radiation research
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Intensity-modulated radiation therapy is being increasingly used to treat cervical esophageal cancer (CEC); however, delineating the gross tumor volume (GTV) accurately is essential for its successful treatment. The use of computed tomography (CT) images to determine the GTV produces a large degree of interobserver variation. In this study, we evaluated whether the use of [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/CT fused images reduced interobserver variation, compared with CT images alone, to determine the GTV in patients with CEC. ⋯ The mean (±SD) interobserver CIs of GTVCT and GTVPET/CT were 0.39 ± 0.15 and 0.58 ± 0.10, respectively (P = 0.005). Our results suggested that FDG-PET/CT images reduced interobserver variation when determining the GTV in patients with CEC. FDG-PET/CT may increase the consistency of the radiographically determined GTV in patients with CEC.