When comparing simplified geometric figures, IOERT delivers the most homogeneous dose distributions. However, in clinical reality PTVs often present asymmetric shapes instead of ideal geometries. Due to a strictly centric dose fall-off, any system with a round central applicator will have technical limits. During IOERT margin-directed applicator guidance is possible and interstitial brachytherapy allows for polygonal dose shaping. These techniques seem to be superior for asymmetric PTV irradiation.
Aim of this study is to show that ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) after breast conserving surgery can be reduced by proper surgery and modern radiotherapy techniques. Three hundred and seventy eight women with stage I or II breast cancer had breast conserving surgery and received 51-56.1 Gy of postoperative radiation to the whole breast in 1.7 Gy fractions, but patients received different boost strategies. Group 1 (n 5 188) received electron boost radiation of 12 Gy subsequent to the irradiation to the whole breast, group 2 (n 5 190) received intraoperative electron boost radiation of 9 Gy directly to the tumor bed, followed by whole breast irradiation. After a median follow up period of 81.0 months in group 1 and a median follow up period of 51.1 months in group 2, 12 IBTRs (6.4%) could be observed in group 1 and no IBTR could be observed in group 2 (0.0%). The 5-year actuarial rates of IBTR were 4.3% (95% CI, 1.9-8.3%) and 0.0% (95% CI, 0.0-1.9%), respectively (p 5 0.0018). The 5-year actuarial rates of distant recurrence were 8.6% (95% CI, 4.9-13.5%) and 4.2% (95% CI, 1.8-8.2%), respectively (p 5 0.08). The 5 year disease-free survival rates were 90.9% (95% CI, 85.8-94.7%) in group 1 and 95.8% (95% CI, 91.8-98.2%) in group 2 (p 5 0.064). Immediate IORT-boost and whole breast irradiation yields excellent local control at 5 years, and was associated with a statistically significant decreased rate of IBTR compared with a similar cohort of patients treated with whole breast irradiation and conventional electron boost. ' 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Only initially performed IGRT might be helpful for eliminating gross systematic errors especially after virtual simulation. However, even with daily IGRT performance, a substantial PTV margin reduction is only achievable by matching internal markers instead of bony anatomical structures.
Image-guided alignment procedures in radiotherapy aim at minimizing discrepancies between the planned and the real patient setup. For that purpose, we developed a 2D/3D approach which rigidly registers a computed tomography (CT) with two x-rays by maximizing the agreement in pixel intensity between the x-rays and the corresponding reconstructed radiographs from the CT. Moreover, the algorithm selects regions of interest (masks) in the x-rays based on 3D segmentations from the pre-planning stage. For validation, orthogonal x-ray pairs from different viewing directions of 80 pelvic cone-beam CT (CBCT) raw data sets were used. The 2D/3D results were compared to corresponding standard 3D/3D CBCT-to-CT alignments. Outcome over 8400 2D/3D experiments showed that parametric errors in root mean square were <0.18° (rotations) and <0.73 mm (translations), respectively, using rank correlation as intensity metric. This corresponds to a mean target registration error, related to the voxels of the lesser pelvis, of <2 mm in 94.1% of the cases. From the results we conclude that 2D/3D registration based on sequentially acquired orthogonal x-rays of the pelvis is a viable alternative to CBCT-based approaches if rigid alignment on bony anatomy is sufficient, no volumetric intra-interventional data set is required and the expected error range fits the individual treatment prescription.
The presented method provides an easy way to determine entity-specific safety margins related to patient setup errors upon registration of bony anatomy (prostate 0.9 cm for 90% of cases, breast 1.3 cm). The important role of planar X-ray imaging was clearly demonstrated. The innovation can also be applied to adaptive image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) protocols.
The standard treatment for early breast cancer comprises wide local excision, sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection, adjuvant medical treatment and radiotherapy to the whole breast. Many studies suggest that local control plays a crucial role in overall survival. The local recurrence rate is estimated to be 1% per year and varies between 4 and 7% after 5 years and up to 10 to 20% in the long-term follow up. On the basis of low local recurrence rates the concept of whole breast irradiation comes up for discussion, and partial breast irradiation (PBI) is increasingly under consideration. Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) is referred to as the delivery of a single high dose of irradiation directly to the tumor bed (confined target) during surgery. PBI (limited field radiation therapy, accelerated partial breast irradiation APBI) is the irradiation exclusively confined to a breast volume, the tumor surrounding tissue (tumor bed) either during surgery or after surgery without whole breast irradiation. Various methods and techniques for IORT or PBI are under investigation. The advantage of a very short radiation time or the integration of the complete radiation treatment into the surgical procedure convinces at a first glance. The promising short-term results of those studies must not fail to mention that local recurrence rates could probably increase and furthermore give rise to distant metastases and a reduction in overall survival. The combination of IORT in boost modality and whole breast irradiation has the ability to reduce local recurrence rates. The EBCTCG overview approves that differences in local treatment that substantially affect local recurrence rates would avoid about one breast cancer death over the next 15 years for every four local recurrences avoided, and should reduce 15-year overall mortality.
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