Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared with computed tomography (CT) for interobserver agreement of gross tumor volume delineation in pancreatic cancer: a multi-institutional contouring study on behalf of the AIRO group for gastrointestinal cancers

BACKGROUND: Due to the high soft tissue resolution, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could improve the accuracy of pancreatic tumor delineation in radiation treatment planning. A multi-institutional study was proposed to evaluate the impact of MRI on inter-observer agreement in gross tumor volume (GTV) and duodenum delineation for pancreatic cancer compared with computer tomography (CT). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two clinical cases of borderline resectable (Case 1) and unresectable (Case 2) pancreatic cancer were selected. In two sequential steps, diagnostic contrast-enhanced CT scan and MRI sequences were sent to the participating centers. CT-GTVs were contoured while blinded to MRI data sets. DICE index was used to evaluate the spatial overlap accuracy. RESULTS: Thirty-one radiation oncologists from different Institutions submitted the delineated volumes. CT- and MRI-GTV mean volumes were 21.6 ± 9.0 cm(3) and 17.2 ± 6.0 cm(3), respectively for Case 1, and 31.3 ± 15.6 cm(3) and 33.2 ± 20.2 cm(3), respectively for Case 2. Resulting MRI-GTV mean volume was significantly smaller than CT-GTV in the borderline resectable case (p