The management of breast cancer almost always includes adjuvant radiotherapy following surgery and chemotherapy for local control and survival benefits. Left sided breast cancer radiotherapy usually involves incidental exposure of the heart and increases the late cardiac toxicity and increased cardiac mortality. Several radiotherapy delivery techniques have been formulated to reduce cardiac morbidity due to treatment. One method used to reduce the dose to the heart and its substructures is deep inspiration breath hold technique (DIBH).
Aim of the work
The aim of this study was to compare the radiation doses received by the heart, left ventricle, left anterior descending coronary artery and the lung using deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) to those of free-breathing technique in adjuvant left breast cancer radiotherapy.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
A prospective study included 35 adult left sided breast cancer patients assigned to receive adjuvant radiotherapy in Alexandria Main University Hospital. Two CTs were taken, one during free breathing and the second one while the patient is in deep inspiration breath hold, during the simulation of the patients for radiotherapy .organ delineation was done for each CT and after treatment planning the doses to the left lung, heart, left ventricle and left anterior descending coronary artery were compared for the free breathing and DIBH technique. The mean dose differences were calculated and a p value