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. 2017 Jan 10;8(2):3059-3063.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.13830.

Dosimetric evaluation of the skin-sparing effects of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy for left breast cancer

In Young Jo  1 , Shin-Wook Kim  2 , Seok Hyun Son  2
Affiliations

Dosimetric evaluation of the skin-sparing effects of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy for left breast cancer

In Young Jo et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the skin-sparing effects of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in patients with early left-sided breast cancer. Twenty left breast cancer patients treated with whole breast radiotherapy following breast-conserving surgery were enrolled in this study, and the 3D-CRT and IMRT plans were generated for each patient. To evaluate the dose delivered to the skin, 2 mm thickness skin (2-mm skin) and 3 mm thickness skin (3-mm skin) were contoured and a dosimetric comparison between the 2 plans was performed. The target volume coverage was better in IMRT than in 3D-CRT. The mean dose was 50.8 Gy for 3D-CRT and 51.1 Gy for IMRT. V40Gy was 99.4% for 3D-CRT and 99.9% for IMRT. In the case of skin, the mean dose was higher in 3D-CRT than in IMRT (mean dose of 2-mm skin: 32.8 Gy and 24.2 Gy; mean dose of 3-mm skin: 37.2 Gy and 27.8 Gy, for 3D-CRT and IMRT, respectively). These results indicated that the skin-sparing effect is more prominent in IMRT compared to 3D-CRT without compromising the target volume coverage.

Keywords: 3-dimensioanl conformal radiotherapy; breast cancer; intensity-modulated radiotherapy; radiation-related dermatitis; skin-sparing.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Comparison of dose-volumetric histograms for PTV, heart, and total lung between 3D-CRT and IMRT
Figure 2
Figure 2. Comparison of dose-volumetric histograms for 2-mm skin and 3-mm skin between 3D-CRT and IMRT
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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