Difference in the Set-up Margin between 2D Conventional and 3D CT Based Planning in Patients with Early Breast Cancer / 대한방사선종양학회지

PURPOSE: Simulation using computed tomography (CT) is now widely available for radiation treatment planning for breast cancer. It is an important tool to help define the tumor target and normal tissue based on anatomical features of an individual patient. In Korea, most patients have small sized breasts and the purpose of this study was to review the margin of treatment field between conventional two-dimensional (2D) planning and CT based three-dimensional (3D) planning in patients with small breasts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five consecutive patients with early breast cancer undergoing breast conservation therapy were selected. All patients underwent 3D CT based planning with a conventional breast tangential field design. In 2D planning, the treatment field margins were determined by palpation of the breast parenchyma (In general, the superior: base of the clavicle, medial: midline, lateral: mid - axillary line, and inferior margin: 2 m below the inframammary fold). In 3D planning, the clinical target volume (CTV) ought to comprise all glandular breast tissue, and the PTV was obtained by adding a 3D margin of 1 cm around the CTV except in the skin direction. The difference in the treatment field margin and equivalent field size between 2D and 3D planning were evaluated. The association between radiation field margins and factors such as body mass index, menopause status, and bra size was determined. Lung volume and heart volume were examined on the basis of the prescribed breast radiation dose and 3D dose distribution. RESULTS: The margins of the treatment field were smaller in the 3D planning except for two patients. The superior margin was especially variable (average, 2.5 cm; range, -2.5 to 4.5 cm; SD, 1.85). The margin of these targets did not vary equally across BMI class, menopause status, or bra size. The average irradiated lung volume was significantly lower for 3D planning. The average irradiated heart volume did not decrease significantly. CONCLUSION: The use of 3D CT based planning reduced the radiation field in early breast cancer patients with small breasts in relation to conventional planning. Though a coherent definition of the breast is needed, CT-based planning generated the better plan in terms of reducing the irradiation volume of normal tissue. Moreover it was possible that 3D CT based planning showed better CTV coverage including postoperative change.

Dosimetry and Three Dimensional Planning for Stereotactic Radiosurgery with SIEMENS 6-MV LINAC / 대한치료방사선과학회지

Radiosurgery requires integral procedure where special devices and computer systems are needed for localization, dose planning and treatment. The aim of this work is to verify the overall mechanical accuracy of our LINAC and develop dose calculation algorithm for LINAC radiosurgery. The alignment of treatment machine and the performance testing of the entire system were extensively carried out and the basic data such as percent depth dose, off-axis ratio and output factor were measured. A three dimensional treatment planning system for stereotactic radiosurgery has been developed. We used an IBM personal computer with C programming language (IBM personal system/2, Model 80386, 1BM Co., USA) for calcu1ating the dose distribution. As a result, deviations at isocenter on gantry and table rotation for our treatment machine were acceptable since they were less than 2 mm. According to the phantom experiments, the focusing isocenter were successful by the error of less than 2 mm. Finally, the mechanical accuracy of our three dimensional planning system was confirmed by film dosimetry in sphere phantom.