Fig. 2.

Consensus atlas for cT3N1M0 middle thoracic esophagus cancer. Gross tumor volume of the primary tumor or pathological lymph nodes (GTVp/n) is illustrated: GTVp is shown in red, representing the primary tumor mass, while GTVn, indicating pathological lymph nodes, is depicted in yellow. The clinical target volume for the primary tumor or lymph nodes (CTVp/n) involves strategic expansions from GTVp/n: CTVp is derived from GTVp with a 2.0 cm expansion cranio-caudally and a 0.5 cm expansion radially along the esophageal wall. CTVn is formulated by expanding GTVn by 0.5 cm in areas with paraoesophageal lymph node drainage. Additionally, for lymph nodes affected in the celiac area, CTVn incorporates a 1.0 cm margin cranio-caudally. The planning target volume (PTV), shown in green, is a uniform 0.5 cm expansion surrounding the total clinical target volume (CTVtotal), which is presented in blue and constitutes the combined volumes of CTVp and CTVn