ABSTRACT
Objective:To compare the dosimetric differences between volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) on planning target volume (PTV) and organ-at-risk (OAR) for breast cancer after modified radical mastectomy, aiming to provide evidence-based reference for clinical practice.Methods:According to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane Library, FMRS, CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP full text databases from the inception of databases up to March 2020. The controlled clinical trials of dosimetric comparison between VMAT and IMRT for breast cancer following modified radical mastectomy were selected. The meta-analysis was performed using Stata14 software.Results:The meta-analysis included 281 patients from 13 observational studies. Compared with IMRT, VMAT significantly increased the PTV dose coverage D 95%( P<0.001) and significantly improved the PTV homogeneity index (HI, P<0.001) and conformity index (CI, P=0.004). Compared with IMRT, VMAT more effectively decreased the ipsilateral lung V 20Gy (WMD=1.332, P=0.027) and contralateral lung V 10Gy ( P=0.003). There were no significant differences in theD mean, V 5Gy, V 10Gy and V 30Gy of the ipsilateral lung, D mean and V 5Gy of the contralateral lung, D mean, V 10Gy and V 30Gy of the heart between VMAT and IMRT (all P>0.05). Compared with VMAT, IMRT reduced the cardiac V 5Gy ( P=0.001). However, sensitivity analysis of included literature on cardiac V 5Gy showed that the P value was reversed, indicating that the stability of the results was poor. VMAT significantly shortened the delivery time ( P<0.001) and the number of monitor units ( P<0.001) compared to IMRT. Conclusion:Compared with IMRT, VMAT can achieves superior target dose coverage, HI and CI, better protection for the ipsilateral and contralateral lung, fewer monitor units and shorter delivery time.
ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze and compare the dosimetric differences based on volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT), fixed field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (F_IMRT), and electron irradiation combined with VMAT (E&VMAT) in radiotherapy for breast cancer after modified mastectomy, aiming to provide reference for clinical selection of treatment plan.Methods:Ten patients with the left breast cancer who received radiotherapy after modified mastectomy were randomly selected. The target areas included chest wall and supraclavicular region, and the prescribed dose was 43.5 Gy in 15 fractions (2.9 Gy/F). Based on the Pinnacle 3 planning system, the VMAT, F_IMRT and E&VMAT plans (electron beam for chest wall, VMAT for supraclavicular area) were designed for each patient. The conformity and homogeneity of the target areas, the dose of organs at risk and treatment time were compared. Results:The VMAT plan could improve the dose distribution of the target areas. The conformity index and homogeneity index of the target dose were significantly better than those of the F_IMRT and E&VMAT plans (all P<0.05). The average dose, V 30Gy, V 20Gy, V 10Gy of the left lung in the VMAT plan were significantly better than those in the F_IMRT and E&VMAT plans (all P<0.05). The V 5Gy of the left lung in the VMAT plan was significantly better than that in the F_IMRT plan ( P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the V 5Gy of the left lung between the VMAT and E&VMAT plans ( P>0.05). The heart, right breast and right lung of the VMAT plan could meet the clinical dose limit requirements. The treatment time of the VMAT, F_IMRT and E&VMAT plans was (326±27) s, (1 082±169) s, and (562±48) s, respectively. Conclusions:Compared with the F_IMRT and E&VMAT plans, the VMAT plan has better quality and shorter treatment time. VMAT plan has higher value in clinical application compared with the F_IMRT and E&VMAT plans.