Group Outline

Sunhee Lee, Simran Rai, Janice Chuang

Effects of target volume coverage in superficial medial and lateral breast tissue using
flattening filter free beams: A case Study

I. Abstract
II. Introduction
a. PI. The role of radiotherapy in breast conserving therapy and its benefits
(Reference: Wrubel et al.1)
b. PII. The problems that arise for the treatment planner when tangential separation
increases
i. The loss of dose near the surface when mixed energies are used
c. PIII. Introduce the benefits of flattening filter free beams and how they can
increase dose for medial and lateral breast tissue (Reference: Kragl et al.2,
Takakura et al.3)
i. Increased dose at surface
ii. Decreased depth of Dmax
d. PIV. The need for more options of beam energies to deliver homogenous
treatment.
i. The need for homogenous breast treatment. How hot spots in breast
treatment reduces overall cosmesis (Reference: Vargas et al.4 )
ii. The difficulty of minimizing hot spots when tangential separation
increases (Reference: Gustafson et al.5)
iii. How mixed energies cannot perfectly solve the problem because although
they minimize hot spots dose near the surface is also lost due to the skin
sparing effect (Reference: Lief et al.6 )
e. PV. The need for increased surface dose of the breast tissue
i. Many Physicians include nearly the whole breast when delineating their
target volumes despite the typical breast evaluation structure excluding
some of this structure. (Reference: Li et al.7 )
 ii. Medial and lateral superficial lumpectomy beds also create the need for
greater dose near the surface of the breast since the surgical cavity is the
most common area of recurrence.
iii. How flattening filter free beams can provide advantages over mixed
energy including faster planning times and treatment times.
f. PVI. Summary of introduction
i. Problem: The problem is that these higher energies can lead to a loss of
peripheral dose in the outer region of breast tissue which is of concern for
patients with a medial or lateral lumpectomy cavity when receiving whole
breast radiation.
ii. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine if 10MV Flattening
Filter Free (FFF) beams can increase peripheral dose coverage in outer
region of breast tissue and the lumpectomy cavity compared to mixed
energy treatment techniques for patient receiving whole breast irradiation.
iii. Hypothesis: FFF treatments would increase volume of the whole breast
receiving 95 percent of the prescription dose and minimum cavity dose,
for breast patients by 5 percent compared to mixed energy treatment
techniques
 References
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improved survival compared with mastectomy for early-stage breast cancer: A propensity
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unflattened photon beams. Radiotherapy oncol. 2009;93(1):141-146.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2009.06.008 

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https://doi.org/10.3332/ecancer.2018.819

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