Events Calendar

Epstein ISE Seminar

Speaker: For Speaker Name, Contact Georgia Lum at glum@usc.edu, For Affiliation, Contact Georgia Lum at glum@usc.edu

Talk Title: "Cancer Therapy in the Presence of Data Uncertainty"

Abstract: In radiation therapy, high energy ionizing radiation is used to treat cancerous tumors. Based on the initial set of patient data, treatment variables can be optimized to attain desired dose distributions of geometrically complex shapes while satisfying clinical constraints on tumors and other organs at risk. However, uncertainties can degrade the quality of treatments, so much so that an otherwise optimal plan may turn out clinically unacceptable. We investigate different sources of uncertainty, such as imperfect setup during the treatment, imaging and dosimetric data errors, organ motion and regression, and discuss the corresponding robust convex or non-convex methods.

Based on clinical cases, we show that the proposed plans are intrinsically immune to the respective uncertainties and meet all clinical criteria. Furthermore, an extension to multi-modal treatments is motivated in conjunction with the concurrent application of chemotherapeutic agents. We show that data on spatiotemporal biological changes can be incorporated for individualized treatment.


Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - Room 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum