Statistical analysis and correlation discovery of tumor respiratory motion.

Tumors, especially in the thorax and abdomen, are subject to respiratory motion, and understanding the structure of respiratory motion is a key component to the management and control of disease in these sites. We have applied statistical analysis and correlation discovery methods to analyze and mine tumor respiratory motion based on a finite state model of tumor motion. Aggregates (such as minimum, maximum, average and mean), histograms, percentages, linear regression and multi-round statistical analysis have been explored. The results have been represented in various formats, including tables, graphs and text description. Different graphs, for example scatter plots, clustered column figures, 100% stacked column figures and box-whisker plots, have been applied to highlight different aspects of the results. The internal tumor motion from 42 lung tumors, 30 of which have motion larger than 5 mm, has been analyzed. Results for both inter-patient and intra-patient motion characteristics, such as duration and travel distance patterns, are reported. New knowledge of patient-specific tumor motion characteristics have been discovered, such as expected correlations between properties. The discovered tumor motion characteristics will be utilized in different aspects of image-guided radiation treatment, including treatment planning, online tumor motion prediction and real-time radiation dose delivery.