Gao Xin's team marked a total of 1,026 metastases on the magnetic resonance imaging data (photo provided by the interviewee)
Because of its high morbidity and mortality, lung cancer has become one of the most threatening malignant tumors to human health and life
Recently, Gao Xin's team, a researcher at the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, cooperated with Shandong Cancer Hospital to construct a small cell lung cancer brain metastasis risk map using medical big data analysis methods, showing the metastasis risk of small cell lung cancer in various brain regions
Cancer Imaging Preventive irradiation has side effects
Preventive irradiation has side effects Clinically, most patients with small cell lung cancer are already at an advanced stage when they are diagnosed
At present, preventive brain irradiation for patients with small cell lung cancer can reduce the metastasis rate, thereby significantly improving the survival rate of patients, but preventive brain irradiation has the side effect of radiation brain damage
Existing clinical trials have shown that preventive brain irradiation in patients with small cell lung cancer, that is, radiotherapy to the brain when no brain metastasis is found, eliminates possible micrometastases, and can cause brain metastasis of small cell lung cancer.
Gao Xin told the Chinese Journal of Science: “Prophylactic brain irradiation is through radiotherapy, but the ionizing radiation generated by irradiating brain tissue with radiation will cause damage to the brain tissue
How to achieve preventive irradiation and avoid radiation brain damage? Prophylactic brain irradiation methods for protecting important brain areas have been clinically proposed.
The original intention of Gao Xin's team was to analyze the risk of small cell lung cancer metastasis in various brain regions and build a small cell lung cancer brain metastasis risk map
Comprehensive analysis of brain metastasis risk
Comprehensive analysis of brain metastasis risk In recent years, preventive brain irradiation has been widely adopted by hospitals across the country
Gao Xin's team cooperated with Shandong Cancer Hospital and used medical big data analysis methods to construct a small cell lung cancer brain metastasis risk map, which comprehensively demonstrated the metastasis risk of small cell lung cancer in various brain regions
However, various brain areas of the brain are related to cognitive functions.
"It is not enough to protect the hippocampus
Why choose to cooperate with Shandong Cancer Hospital? Gao Xin told reporters that the radiotherapy technology of Shandong Cancer Hospital is domestically leading, and the number of cancer patients admitted to the hospital ranks among the top in the country.
Provide precise brain protection solutions
Provide precise brain protection solutions In the study, Gao Xin's team marked a total of 1,026 metastases on the magnetic resonance image data, and used the registration technology to map all metastases to the standard brain template, and the standard brain template was automatically divided into 47 through the brain area atlas In order to calculate the metastasis probability of each brain area, and compare the difference between the metastasis probability of each brain area and the expected metastasis probability by medical statistical test methods, the metastasis risk level of each brain area is finally determined, and the brain metastasis of small cell lung cancer is established.
"Because of the large number of patient data included in the analysis, the number of metastases is as high as thousands, we need to label each metastasis one by one
When the reporter asked why the 47 brain regions were divided, Gao Xin replied that there are many existing methods for dividing brain regions, and some methods are too coarse.
For example, the MNI brain region atlas proposed by the Montreal Institute of Neurology can only The brain is divided into 9 brain regions, and many brain regions related to cognitive functions are not reflected; some methods are too finely divided, for example, according to the AAL brain region atlas proposed by the University of Paris V, the brain is divided into as many as 116 brains This division will divide certain complete brain areas into sub-regions, and the relationship between sub-regions and cognitive functions is still inconclusive
.
"Simply using the existing brain area division method cannot meet the clinical requirements for cognitive function protection
.
" Gao Xin said, "Based on full consideration of the actual clinical needs, we merged the brain areas of the AAL brain area atlas, and Invite radiologists to mark important brain areas of clinical concern, such as the brain stem, pineal gland, and pituitary gland.
Combining the AAL brain area atlas after the merger of the brain areas and the clinically marked important brain areas form the brain area division map used in this study Set
.
"
On the basis of the above research, Gao Xin’s team established a small cell lung cancer brain metastasis risk map showing that the brain areas with high metastasis risk are the cerebellum (motor regulation center), deep white matter (coordinating brain inter-brain communication), and brain stem (maintaining basic physiological functions).
The brain areas at risk of metastasis are temporal lobe (hearing, language, smell and memory centers) and inferior frontal gyrus (motor language center)
.
"This study provides an important reference for clinically formulating more accurate brain protection programs
.
" Gao Xin said that in the future, he plans to extend this set of methods to more types of cancers that are prone to brain metastasis, such as non-small cells.
Lung cancer and breast cancer
.
(Source: China Science News, Chunlei Shen)
Related paper information: https://doi.
org/10.
1186/s40644-021-00410-w
https://doi.
org/10.
1186/s40644-021-00410-w
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