Central3D: A Computer Tool to Help Clinicians Differentiate Central and Peripheral Lung Tumors

Purpose: We present a concise description of an in-house decision aid software called "Central3D" that allows a quick and robust lung tumor classification between central and peripheral as defined by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0813.

Methods and materials: Twenty cases of lung tumors were selected for this study and four radiation oncologists blindly classified them as peripheral versus central without assistance of our software. All discordant cases were reviewed using Central3D and prompt consensus was obtained.

Results: Many authors have stressed the importance of adopting risk adaptive fractionation schedule with lower biological equivalent dose when treating centrally-located high risks lesions. Central3D addresses the limitation of current treatment planning systems to represent image data in fixed planes and can help radiation oncologists to fully characterize these pulmonary lesions.