Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39299574›Full record

ArticleRadiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology2024

Artificial intelligence uncertainty quantification in radiotherapy applications - A scoping review.

Kareem A Wahid, Zaphanlene Y Kaffey, David P Farris, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Amy C Moreno, Mathis Rasmussen, Jintao Ren, Mohamed A Naser, Tucker J Netherton, Stine Korreman and 4 more

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  8. Large language models for scalable standardization in radiation oncology.Physics and imaging in radiation oncology · 2026
    Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
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  16. Uncertainties in outcome modelling in radiation oncology.Physics and imaging in radiation oncology · 2025
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Gradient Map-Assisted Head and Neck Tumor Segmentation: A Pre-RT to Mid-RT Approach in MRI-Guided Radiotherapy.Head and Neck Tumor Segmentation for MR-Guided Applications : First MICCAI Challenge, HNTS-MRG 2024, held in conjunction with MICCAI 2024, Marrakesh, Morocco, October 17, 2024, proceedings · 2025
    Article
  19. Overview of the Head and Neck Tumor Segmentation for Magnetic Resonance Guided Applications (HNTS-MRG) 2024 Challenge.Head and Neck Tumor Segmentation for MR-Guided Applications : First MICCAI Challenge, HNTS-MRG 2024, held in conjunction with MICCAI 2024, Marrakesh, Morocco, October 17, 2024, proceedings · 2025
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Kareem A WahidDepartment of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Zaphanlene Y KaffeyDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
David P FarrisResearch Medical Library, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Laia Humbert-VidanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Amy C MorenoDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Mathis RasmussenDepartment of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Jintao RenDepartment of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Mohamed A NaserDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Tucker J NethertonDepartment of Radiation Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Stine KorremanDepartment of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Guha BalakrishnanRice University, Houston, TX, USA.
Clifton D FullerDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
David FuentesDepartment of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: dtfuentes@mdanderson.org.
Michael J DohopolskiDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. Electronic address: michael.dohopolski@utsouthwestern.edu.

Funding

Tumor Evolution and Metastasis ProgramP30CA016672 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI Fabien Delerue · 1985 to 2026
$290.8M
Paul Calabresi Clinical Oncology AwardK12CA088084 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI David S. Hong, Scott Kopetz · 2000 to 2026
$14.0M
Early Detection of Hepatocellular CarcinomaR01CA195524 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI LAURA BERETTA, David Fuentes · 2016 to 2026
$6.5M
Development of functional magnetic resonance imaging-guided adaptive radiotherapy for head and neck cancer patients using novel MR-Linac deviceR01DE028290 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI CHRISTODOULEAS, JOHN PAUL, FULLER, CLIFTON DAVID · 2019 to 2023
$4.3M
Using Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-MRI) to Establish Objective Clinical Outcome Measures for Mandibular OsteoradionecrosisR01DE025248 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI LAI, STEPHEN Y · 2016 to 2020
$2.9M
SCH: Personalized Rescheduling of Adaptive Radiation Therapy for Head & Neck CancerR01CA257814 · NCI · RICE UNIVERSITY · PI FULLER, CLIFTON DAVID, SCHAEFER, ANDREW J · 2021 to 2024
$1.8M
Image Guided Cancer Therapy Training ProgramT32CA261856 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI Kristy Brock, Clifton David Fuller · 2022 to 2026
$1.2M
Fellow and Resident Radiation Oncology iNtensive Training in Imaging and Informatics to Empower Research Careers (FRONTI2ER)R25EB025787 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI DAS, PRAJNAN, FULLER, CLIFTON DAVID · 2018 to 2022
$535k
Probabilistic Deep Learning Cervical Lymph-Node Auto-Segmentation For Imaging-enhanced Evaluation of Extracapsular Extension Risk (PDL-CLASIFIER)R03DE033550 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI FULLER, CLIFTON DAVID, NASER, MOHAMED · 2024 to 2025
$499k
Provider and Patient-generated Remote Oro-Dental Health Electronic Data Capture for Algorithmic Longitudinal Evaluation and Risk-Assessment (PROHEALER)K01DE030524 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI MORENO, AMY CATHERINE · 2022 to 2024
$479k
Radiation-specific Automated Dental Dose Distributions via Machine-learning based Mapping for Accurate Predictions of (Peri)odontal Problems (RADMAP)R21DE031082 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI MORENO, AMY CATHERINE · 2021 to 2022
$452k
NCI NIH HHS K12 CA088084NCI NIH HHS P30 CA016672NCI NIH HHS R01 CA195524NCI NIH HHS R01 CA257814NCI NIH HHS T32 CA261856NIBIB NIH HHS R25 EB025787NIDCR NIH HHS K01 DE030524NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE025248NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE028290NIDCR NIH HHS R03 DE033550NIDCR NIH HHS R21 DE031082
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background/purposeThe use of artificial intelligence (AI) in radiotherapy (RT) is expanding rapidly. However, there exists a notable lack of clinician trust in AI models, underscoring the need for effective uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods. The purpose of this study was to scope existing literature related to UQ in RT, identify areas of improvement, and determine future directions.

methodsWe followed the PRISMA-ScR scoping review reporting guidelines. We utilized the population (human cancer patients), concept (utilization of AI UQ), context (radiotherapy applications) framework to structure our search and screening process. We conducted a systematic search spanning seven databases, supplemented by manual curation, up to January 2024. Our search yielded a total of 8980 articles for initial review. Manuscript screening and data extraction was performed in Covidence. Data extraction categories included general study characteristics, RT characteristics, AI characteristics, and UQ characteristics.

resultsWe identified 56 articles published from 2015 to 2024. 10 domains of RT applications were represented; most studies evaluated auto-contouring (50 %), followed by image-synthesis (13 %), and multiple applications simultaneously (11 %). 12 disease sites were represented, with head and neck cancer being the most common disease site independent of application space (32 %). Imaging data was used in 91 % of studies, while only 13 % incorporated RT dose information. Most studies focused on failure detection as the main application of UQ (60 %), with Monte Carlo dropout being the most commonly implemented UQ method (32 %) followed by ensembling (16 %). 55 % of studies did not share code or datasets.

conclusionOur review revealed a lack of diversity in UQ for RT applications beyond auto-contouring. Moreover, we identified a clear need to study additional UQ methods, such as conformal prediction. Our results may incentivize the development of guidelines for reporting and implementation of UQ in RT.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceNeoplasmsHumansRadiotherapyRadiotherapy, Image-GuidedRadiotherapy Planning, Computer-AssistedUncertainty

Identifiers

PMID39299574
PMCPMC11648575

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.