Field-In-Field Plan Versus Tangential Wedged Beam Plan in Chest Wall Radiotherapy of Post-Mastectomy Patients: Treatment Planning Study

In this study, dose distribution of the chest wall in post-mastectomy breast cancer patients was evaluated and compared in the tangential wedged beam (TWB) and field-in-field (FIF) plans.
Thirty-six patients with left-sided breast cancer were enrolled in this study. The FIF and TWB plans were generated for each patient to compare dosimetric parameters of the chest wall. The maximum dose (Dmax), homogeneity index (HI), conformity index (CI), and uniformity index (UI) were defined and used for comparison of the dosimetric parameters of the planning target volume (PTV) in both FIF and TWB plans. The percentage of volumes receiving at least 10, 20, 30, and 40 Gy of the left lung and 5, 10, 20, 25 and 30 Gy of the heart were used to compare the dosimetric results of the organs at risk. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS, version 20.
The FIF plan had significantly lower HI (P=0.000) than the TWB plan, indicating that the FIF plan was better than the TWB plan in PTV. The V40lung (15.36±4.35 vs. 18.37±4.42) and V30heart (8.15±3.75 vs. 10.94±3.94; P=0.000) were significantly lower in the FIF plan than in the TWB plan. In addition, the monitor unit (MU) was significantly lower in the FIF plan than in the TWB plan (227.76 vs. 323.59; P=0.000).
The FIF plan significantly reduced the dose volume of the left lung and heart in post-mastectomy radiotherapy compared to the TWB plan. Therefore, the FIF plan is recommended for this purpose.