{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,11]],"date-time":"2026-01-11T22:59:05Z","timestamp":1768172345281,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,4]],"date-time":"2024-12-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733270400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: To present the technical aspects of contrast-enhanced 4DCT (ce4DCT) simulation for abdominal SBRT. Methods: Twenty-two patients underwent two sequential 4DCT scans: one baseline and one contrast-enhanced with personalized delay time (tdelay) calculated to capture the tumor in the desired contrast phase, based on diagnostic triple-phase CT. The internal target volume (ITV) was delineated on ten contrast phases, and a panel of three experts qualitatively evaluated tumor visibility. Aortic HU values were measured to refine the tdelay for subsequent patients. The commonly used approach of combining triple-phase CT with unenhanced 4DCT was simulated, and differences in target delineation were evaluated by volume, centroid shift, Dice and Jaccard indices, and mean distance agreement (MDA). The margins required to account for motion were calculated. Results: The ce4DCT acquisitions substantially improved tumor visibility over the entire breathing cycle in 20 patients, according to the experts\u2019 unanimous evaluation. The median contrast peak time was 54.5 s, and the washout plateau was observed at 70.3 s, with mean peak and plateau HU values of 292 \u00b1 59 and 169 \u00b1 25. The volumes from the commonly used procedure (ITV2) were significantly smaller than the ce4DCT volumes (ITV1) (p = 0.045). The median centroid shift was 4.7 mm. The ITV1-ITV2 overlap was 69% (Dice index), 53% (Jaccard index), and 2.89 mm (MDA), with the liver volumes showing significantly lower indices compared to the pancreatic volumes (p \u2264 0.011). The margins required to better encompass ITV1 were highly variable, with mean values \u2265 4 mm in all directions except for the left\u2013right axis. Conclusions: The ce4DCT simulation was feasible, resulting in optimal tumor enhancement with minimal resource investment, while significantly mitigating uncertainties in SBRT planning by addressing poor visibility and respiratory motion. Triple-phase 3DCT with unenhanced 4DCT led to high variability in target delineation, making the isotropic margins ineffective.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers16234066","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]],"date-time":"2024-12-05T04:13:03Z","timestamp":1733371983000},"page":"4066","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Synchronized Contrast-Enhanced 4DCT Simulation for Target Volume Delineation in Abdominal SBRT"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9584-637X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valeria","family":"Faccenda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Physics Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8309-924X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Denis","family":"Panizza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Physics Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"},{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rita Marina","family":"Niespolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3867-2844","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Riccardo Ray","family":"Colciago","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giulia","family":"Rossano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Radiation Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"De Sanctis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Radiation Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Gandola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Radiology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Ippolito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Diagnostic Radiology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3880-8876","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Arcangeli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"},{"name":"Radiation Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"De Ponti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Physics Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"},{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/j.semradonc.2022.11.008","article-title":"The Role of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in the Management of Liver Metastases","volume":"33","author":"Lee","year":"2023","journal-title":"Semin. 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