ARLINGTON, Va., November 14, 2018 — A new special edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics (Red Journal) focuses on the roles of imaging in radiation oncology. The collection explores topics such as improving accuracy with patient positioning, defining radiation therapy volumes using imaging, imaging of functional biomarkers, the role of imaging in post-treatment care, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The issue, which includes more than 70 research articles and essays, is available in print and online, and it will be free to read online November 26-30.

The collection was edited by Sue Yom, MD, PhD, deputy editor of the journal and a radiation oncologist at University of California, San Francisco, and Kristy Brock, PhD, an associate senior editor and medical physicist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The editors co-authored an editorial exploring the integration of imaging with the field of radiation oncology, "Seeing what's before us: Imaging in the electronic age." In this introduction to the collection, the editors ask: "Can imaging make our therapies more precise, more effective, or better evaluated for their ultimate effects, whether toxic or beneficial, and if so, in what best manner?" Additionally, Dr. Yom provides an analysis of research highlights and an overview of the issue's importance for practitioners and patients in an accompanying podcast.

"This special edition on patient imaging in radiation oncology explores the range of activities radiation oncologists perform as they work with their patients, and it underscores the vibrancy of imaging in our specialty," said Dr. Yom. "The cross-cutting collection addresses the impact of imaging across the cancer care process, including diagnosis, prognostication, treatment planning and delivery, outcome assessment, follow-up and surveillance. The articles contain scientific inventions, novel applications of standard imaging techniques and cautionary notices, and they are likely to stimulate changes in practice and/or research."

Selected highlights from this issue include the following articles:

Treatment planning

Changes in brain metastasis during radiosurgical planning, by Alison Salkeld et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.06.021
Impact of magnetic resonance imaging on gross tumor volume delineation in non-spine bony metastasis treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy, by Srinivas Raman et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.03.010

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