Cardiac motion during deep-inspiration breath-hold: implications for breast cancer radiotherapy.

Purpose: Many patients with left-sided breast cancer receive adjuvant radiotherapy during deep-inspiration breath hold (DIBH) to minimize radiation exposure to the heart. We measured the displacement of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and heart owing to cardiac motion during DIBH, relative to the standard tangential fields for left breast cancer radiotherapy.

Methods And Materials: A total of 20 patients who had undergone computed tomography-based coronary angiography with retrospective electrocardiographic gating were randomly selected for the present study.

Clinical implementation of electron energy changes of varian linear accelerators.

Modern dual photon energy linear accelerators often come with a few megavoltage electron beams. The megavoltage electron beam has limited range and relative sharp distal falloff in its depth dose curve compared to that of megavoltage photon beam. Its radiation dose is often delivered appositionally to cover the target volume to its distal 90% depth dose (d90), while avoiding the normal--sometimes critical--structure immediately distal to the target.

Breast cancer regional radiation fields for supraclavicular and axillary lymph node treatment: is a posterior axillary boost field technique optimal?

Purpose: To assess whether using an anterior oblique supraclavicular (SCV) field with a posterior axillary boost (PAB) field is an optimal technique for targeting axillary (AX) lymph nodes compared with two computed tomography (CT)-based techniques: (1) an SCV field with an anterior boost field and (2) intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Methods And Materials: Ten patients with CT simulation data treated with postmastectomy radiation that included an SCV field were selected for the study. Supraclavicular nodes and AX Level I-III nodes within the SCV field were contoured and defined as the treatment target.

Effects of variable placement of superior tangential/supraclavicular match line on dosimetric coverage of level III axilla/axillary apex in patients treated with breast and supraclavicular radiotherapy.

Purpose: To determine the differences in dosimetric coverage of the Level III axillary node target as a function of the superior tangential/supraclavicular match line in breast cancer patients undergoing with tangential breast and supraclavicular fossa radiotherapy.

Methods And Materials: The data from 20 consecutive breast cancer patients who were treated with breast conservation surgery and Level I and II axillary dissection followed by radiotherapy to the undissected Level III axilla/supraclavicular fossa were retrospectively analyzed. The nodal volumes were delineated from the computed tomography simulation data set.

Treatment optimization using computed tomography-delineated targets should be used for supraclavicular irradiation for breast cancer.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of optimized CT treatment planning offered better coverage of axillary level III (LIII)/supraclavicular (SC) targets than the empirically derived dose prescription that are commonly used.

Materials/methods: Thirty-two consecutive breast cancer patients who underwent CT treatment planning of a SC field were evaluated. Each patient was categorized according to body mass index (BMI) classes: normal, overweight, or obese.