Morphological factors and cardiac doses in whole breast radiation for left-sided breast cancer.

Background: To investigate the impact of the breast size, shape, maximum heart depth (MDH), and chest wall hypotenuse (the distance connecting middle point of the sternum and the length of lung draw on the selected transverse CT slice) on the volumetric dose to heart with whole breast irradiation (WBI) of left-sided breast cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-three patients with left-sided breast cancer undergoing adjuvant intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were enrolled in the study. The primary breast size and shape, MHD and DCWH (chest wall hypotenuse) were contoured on radiotherapy (RT) planning CT slices.