Robustness of Breast Margins with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy without a Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Couch: A Dosimetric Evaluation

Abstract

In our hospital, a TrueBeam linear accelerator and the PerfectPitch 6-degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) couch (Varian), with 7 mm margins, are used for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) of breast cancer (BC). This study tested whether a 3-degrees-of-freedom (3-DOF) couch, i.e., without rotation compensation (such as the Halcyon couch), affected dose metrics. A total of 446 daily extended cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) data of 20 patients who received VMAT for BC were used to recalculate the treatment plans with the session registration (6-DOF) and a simulated matching with 3-DOF. The initial plan provided significantly better coverage for internal mammary chain and clavicular lymph node clinical target volumes (CTVs) than the 6-DOF and 3-DOF CBCT plans. The volumes receiving 110% of the prescribed dose (V110%) were increased for all CTVs with the 6-DOF and 3-DOF CBCT plans, but the difference was significant only for the breast/chest wall CTV (p < 0.05; paired samples t-test). Protection of the heart and lungs was comparable among plans. The dose volume histograms based on the 6-DOF and 3-DOF data were similar for CTVs and organs at risk. Therefore, with a 7 mm margin, VMAT and a 3-DOF couch can be used for BC treatment without any compromise in delivery accuracy.