Cross-Sectional Evaluation of the Mean Heart Doses in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy at INMOL Cancer Hospital, Lahore
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31580/2f85fd20Keywords:
3D-CRT, Breast cancer, Radiotherapy planningAbstract
This study aims to determine mean heart doses (MHD) received by breast cancer patients who underwent 3D-CRT treatment at INMOL Cancer Hospital in Lahore. The six-month cross-sectional research took place at INMOL Cancer Hospital, Lahore according to Letter No. INMOL-128, 15-06-2024. The research studied 126 female breast cancer patients who received 3D-CRT treatment at INMOL Cancer Hospital with non-probability purposive sampling. The research team obtained patient data points focused on age alongside surgical procedures along with affected sites from breast cancer patients. The research utilized computed tomography (CT) plans to calculate mean heart doses and carried out statistical evaluations with version 21 of SPSS. The patients had an average age of 43.31 ± 9.29 years. The heart received an average 2.429 ± 2.367 Gy of radiation dose throughout all cases. The patients with left-sided breast tumors received considerably higher mean heart doses amounting to 4.722 ± 0.753 Gy than those with right-sided breast cancers who received 0.136 ± 0.198 Gy with p-value < 0.001. Among patients who received left-sided modified radical mastectomy (LT-MRM) treatment the mean heart dose reached its peak value of 5.207 + 0.547 Gy whereas right-sided breast-conserving surgery (RT-BCS) produced the least amount of heart dose at 0.105 + 0.148 Gy. ANOVA tests showed that surgical methods produce distinct mean heart doses that reach statistical significance (p < 0.001). The mean heart doses between age groups showed no statistical differences based on p = 0.371. Mean heart doses show a major difference between patients diagnosed with left-sided versus right-sided breast cancer when receiving 3D-CRT care since left-sided patients face significantly higher cardiac exposure risks. Radiotherapy planning requires customization to lower the cardiac health risks for patients diagnosed with left-sided breast cancer based on study findings.
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