{"entity":{"id":"paper-vinod-delineation-uncertainty-review-radiother-oncol-2016","kind":"paper","name":"Uncertainties in volume delineation in radiation oncology: a systematic review and recommendations for future studies","aka":[],"tldr":"A review of 119 studies in which several clinicians drew the same radiotherapy targets. The studies measured the disagreement in so many different ways that they could not be combined, and only 21 per cent checked what it did to the dose.","summary":"Vinod, Jameson, Min and Holloway searched Medline and PubMed for studies published in English from 2000 to 2014 that compared target or organ outlines drawn by more than two observers. They included 119 studies across all major tumour sites. The clinical target volume (47 studies) and gross tumour volume (38) were the commonest structures studied, with a median of seven participants and nine data sets. Metrics and methods of analysis varied considerably; statistical analysis was reported in 68 per cent of studies and dosimetric consequences in 21 per cent. The authors proposed a framework for conducting and reporting future studies.","asOf":"2026-10-20","links":[{"label":"Radiotherapy and Oncology 2016","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2016.09.009"},{"label":"PubMed 27729166","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27729166/"}],"tags":["precision","radiation"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":["radiation"],"technologies":["auto-contouring-ai"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["target-delineation-variability","planning-target-volume","organs-at-risk"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["radiotherapy-and-oncology"],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"Radiotherapy and Oncology","year":2016,"doi":"10.1016/j.radonc.2016.09.009","pmid":"27729166","authors":"Vinod SK, Jameson MG, Min M, Holloway LC.","paperType":"review","findings":["119 studies covering all major tumour sites were included.","The clinical target volume (47 studies) and gross tumour volume (38) were most commonly contoured; the median number of participants was 7 (range 3 to 50).","Statistical analysis was reported in 68 per cent of studies and dosimetric consequences in 21 per cent."],"whatItMeans":"Variation between clinicians in drawing the target is one of the largest errors in radiotherapy and one of the least measured in terms of what it does to patients. The field has studied whether outlines differ far more than whether the differences matter.","caveats":["Covers studies to 2014, before AI auto-contouring was in clinical use.","Because the studies used different metrics, the review gives no pooled size for the variation.","The participants count here is the number of studies reviewed, not of patients."],"participants":119},"route":"/key-papers/paper-vinod-delineation-uncertainty-review-radiother-oncol-2016/","neighbours":{"section":[{"id":"radiation","kind":"section","name":"Radiation Therapy","route":"/fronts/radiation/"}],"technology":[{"id":"auto-contouring-ai","kind":"technology","name":"AI auto-contouring and adaptive planning","route":"/technologies/auto-contouring-ai/"}],"term":[{"id":"planning-target-volume","kind":"term","name":"GTV, CTV and PTV (target volumes)","route":"/terms/planning-target-volume/"},{"id":"organs-at-risk","kind":"term","name":"Organs at risk and dose constraints","route":"/terms/organs-at-risk/"},{"id":"target-delineation-variability","kind":"term","name":"Variation between clinicians in drawing the radiotherapy target","route":"/terms/target-delineation-variability/"}],"journal":[{"id":"radiotherapy-and-oncology","kind":"journal","name":"Radiotherapy and Oncology","route":"/journals/radiotherapy-and-oncology/"}]}}