Developing Quantitative Models for Linking Radiation Treatment Options with Clinical Outcomes

Radiobiological modeling of a likelihood of treatment outcome is a tool that enables quantitative analysis of tradeoffs inherent in the practice of radiation therapy. Common examples of such tradeoffs are increasing treatment effectiveness (local control) at a cost of increasing likelihood of complications, or an expensive and invasive clinical intervention which can potentially reduce likelihood of clinical complications. Analysis of tradeoffs is an important part of the treatment planning process today, but such analysis becomes critical to providers and to insurance carriers when novel but costly treatment options become available. In this project, we develop capabilities to perform radiobiological modeling of treatment outcomes in radiation therapy, both in-house capability to clinical complications and local tumor control probability, using dosimetric and clinical outcomes data collected at Mayo Clinic. The model integrates radiobiological principles and statistical novelty to achieve patient-specific assessment.

Source: Mayo Foundation