[Feasibility study: The medical imaging as a tool for therapeutic education in radiotherapy]. / Étude de faisabilité : l'utilisation de l'imagerie médicale en éducation thérapeutique en radiothérapie.

PURPOSE: Assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) exploring the use of medical imaging as a therapeutic education (TPE) intervention in external radiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental feasibility trial of "RCT" type carried out in a single-center, between November 2019 and March 2020, following adult patients treated by thoracic radiotherapy. In addition to the information usually given, the experimental group benefited from an intervention consisting in the visualization of their own medical images using the open-source software "Stone of Orthanc". RESULTS: Forty-nine patients were recruited with a refusal rate of 8.16% (4/49). 20 patients were withdrawn from the study for health reasons (COVID), 10 for medical reasons. All the remaining 15 participants completed the process. Although not significant, the experimental group showed a median gain in the perception of knowledge compared to the control group (+ 1.9 (1.6 - 2.2)) vs (+ 1.4 (1.4 - 1.8)), as well as a decrease in scores related to anxiety (- 3.0 (-4.5 - (-2.0)) vs - 1.0 (-5.0 - 0.0)) and emotional distress ((- 5.0 (- 7.5 - (- 3.5)) vs (- 2.0 (- 5.0 - (- 1.0)) A significant reduction (p=0.043) is observed for the depression score ((- 2.0 (-3.0 - (-1.5)) vs (0.0 (0.0 - 0.0)). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the feasibility of the project, with promising preliminary results. Some adaptations in order to conduct a larger-scale RCT are highlighted.

[Functional imaging and radiotherapy]. / Utilisation de l'imagerie fonctionnelle en radiothérapie.

Medical imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis, staging and therapeutic strategy of oncologic patients. The development of medical imaging over the last decade has allowed significant progresses in radiotherapy. Indeed, medical imaging is now considered the corner stone of radiotherapy. The main challenge for the radiation oncologist consists in the tumour identification with a view to irradiate the tumour at a curative dose while avoiding healthy tissues. To achieve these goals, the radiotherapist daily uses anatomical imaging such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Since several years now, the development of functional imaging such as positron emission tomography (PET) combined with CT or functional MRI has opened new perspectives in the management of oncologic diseases. Indeed, these imaging techniques offer new information on tumour metabolism that may be taken into account to plan the radiotherapy treatment. This article illustrates the different imaging techniques used in radiotherapy and the role of functional imaging for establishing new therapeutic strategies in radiation oncology.