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Abstract
PurposeThis study was performed to evaluate skin toxicity during modern three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and to evaluate the importance of dose distribution and patient related factors.Material and methodsThis study comprises 255 patients with breast cancer treated with tangential three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) after breast conserving surgery between 03/2012 and 05/2017. The median prescribed dose was 50.4 Gy (range 50–50.4) and 92.2% of the patients received a sequential boost of 10–16 Gy. Adverse skin toxicities (according to CTCAE v. 4.03 and the occurrence of moist desquamations) were assessed at the end of treatment. The dose distribution in the skin (5 mm strip from the patient outline) and in the CTV was evaluated and correlated to the CTCAE scores and the occurrence of moist desquamation.Results42.4% of the patients developed grade I, 55.7% grade II and 2% grade III skin toxicities. Moist desquamation was observed in 59 cases (23.1%). Dose distribution within the CTV and skin was homogenous with only small areas receiving 107% of the prescribed dose (median: 0.7 cm3) in the CTV and 105% (median 0.5 cm3) in the skin. On univariate analysis breast size as well as V107%(CTV), V105%(skin) and V80%(skin) correlated significantly (p < 0.05) with the incidence of skin toxicity. On multivariate analysis only V80%(skin) was confirmed as independent risk factor.ConclusionModern tangential multi-field 3D-CRT allows a homogeneous dose distribution with similar skin toxicity as compared to studies performing IMRT. Dose distribution within the skin (V80%) might have a relevant impact on the severity of skin toxicity and the occurrence of moist desquamation.
Highlights
Adjuvant radiotherapy is an indispensable part in the therapy of early breast cancer
We observed a significant impact of V107% (CTV); 105% and V80% on the occurrence of moist desquamation
Similar to the findings in the Clinical target volume (CTV), a higher V105 of the skin was associated with the occurrence of moist desquamation (p = 0.03)
Summary
Adjuvant radiotherapy is an indispensable part in the therapy of early breast cancer. 74–100% of the patients undergoing radiotherapy of the breast develop skin irritations such as erythema, desquamation and edema [2, 3]. Related complaints such as Previous studies identified patient-related factors (smoking, breast size and body mass index) as well as factors related to the treatment procedure (e.g. concomitant hormone treatment and dose distribution) to be predictive of severe side effects [8,9,10]. This study was performed to evaluate skin toxicity with modern 3D-CRT in a large patient collective with special emphasis on the dose distribution within the skin and the target volume
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