# Plan Quality Comparison at Five Years in Two Cohorts of Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Helical Tomotherapy

## TL;DR

This study compared the quality of radiation treatment plans for breast cancer patients over five years, showing improvements in plan quality and reduced side effects.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates a learning curve improvement in Helical Tomotherapy® for post-mastectomy breast cancer patients over five years.

## Key findings

- The percentage of optimal treatment plans increased from 70.8% to 77.5% over five years.
- The incidence of moderate-to-severe capsular contracture decreased from 54.8% to 43.5%.
- Compromised treatment plans decreased from 10.8% to 7.5% in the later cohort.

## Abstract

Objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the evolution of planned dose distribution quality in two groups of breast cancer patients treated with hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using Helical TomoTherapy® at our institute 5 years apart. Methods: the analysis included two cohorts of patients who underwent implant-based immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) and received post-mastectomy IMRT to the chest wall and infra/supraclavicular lymph nodes, following a 15-fraction regimen (2.67 Gy per fraction). The first group was treated between 2012 and 2015, while the second received treatment between 2019 and 2020. Dosimetric indices derived from dose–volume histograms used in clinical practice were analyzed to assess dose distribution quality. A quantitative scoring system was applied retrospectively to compare the two groups in terms of target coverage and organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing. Additionally, capsular contracture (CC) incidence was examined in both cohorts. Results: A total of 240 patients were included in the study. The percentage of optimal treatment plans increased from 70.8% in the 2012–2015 cohort to 77.5% in the 2019–2020 cohort, while compromised plans decreased from 10.8% to 7.5%. Furthermore, the incidence of moderate-to-severe CC dropped from 54.8% in the earlier cohort to 43.5% in the later one. Conclusions: Helical Tomotherapy® has demonstrated the ability to achieve a high rate of optimal treatment plans concerning both PTV coverage and OAR sparing in a challenging population of postmastectomy patients with IBR. The learning curve showed that, after 5 years, the rate of optimal plans was increased, accompanied by a reduction in compromised plans and treatment-related toxicity.