Utility of functional imaging in prediction or assessment of treatment response and prognosis following thermotherapy.

The purpose of this review is to examine the roles that functional imaging may play in prediction of treatment response and determination of overall prognosis in patients who are enrolled in thermotherapy trials, either in combination with radiotherapy, chemotherapy or both. Most of the historical work that has been done in this field has focused on magnetic resonance imaging/magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRI/MRS) methods, so the emphasis will be there, although some discussion of the role that positron emission tomography (PET) might play will also be examined. New optical technologies also hold promise for obtaining low cost, yet valuable physiological data from optically accessible sites. The review is organised by traditional outcome parameters: local response, local control and progression-free or overall survival. Included in the review is a discussion of future directions for this type of translational work.