Effects of modulation factors in breast cancer treatment with helical tomotherapy

The aim of this study was to compare the dosimetric values of TomoHelical (TH) plans using modulation factors 3 and 5 in patients with breast cancer.

Two different radiotherapy treatment plans, including modulation factors 3 and 5, were generated retrospectively for 12 consecutive intact breast cancer patients. Twelve different plans in terms of the modulation factor were generated. Other optimization parameters (i.e., pitch and field width) were the same for all plans.

No differences were found between the conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) values of both plans (p>0.05). The values of D mean, V5, and V20 of the ipsilateral lung in the TomoHelical plan with modulation factor 5 (TH5) were significantly lower than with modulation factor 3 (TH3) for all 12 patients (4.9 Gy, 20.14%, 3.23%. Vs, 10.95 Gy, 58.9%, 18.7%; p=0.01, p=0.00, p=0.002, respectively). Also, the values of Dmean and V5 of the heart in TH5 were significantly lower than in TH3 (6.45 Gy, 34.33%, vs. 7.12 Gy, 64.22%; p=0.004, p=0.00, respectively).

Both the TH5 and TH3 plans provided adequate coverage of the intact breast. TH5 delivered a decreased dose to the ipsilateral organs at risk (OARs), especially in the lung and heart volume, which is the main cause of long-term toxicity. The novelty of this work is the obvious reduction in same-sided lung volume irradiation by increasing the modulation factor.