Prognostic factors of radiation dermatitis following passive-scattering proton therapy for breast cancer

BACKGROUND: To identify prognostic factors for grade 3 radiation dermatitis following passive-scattering proton therapy for breast cancer. METHODS: This retrospective study included data on 23 (11 post-mastectomy and 12 post-lumpectomy) breast cancer patients who underwent proton therapy with the passive scattering technique in our institute from 2012 to 2016. Each patient received 50–50.4 cobalt Gy equivalent (CGE) at 1.8 or 2 CGE per daily fraction. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify prognostic factors for grade 3 skin toxicity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and the area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the performance of the models. RESULTS: 43% of the studied patients developed grade 3 radiation dermatitis. The dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters of V52.5CGE and D10cm(3) to skin5mm were correlated with grade 3 radiation dermatitis in both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Univariate logistic regression analysis suggested that D10cm(3) to skin5mm (AUC = 0.69) and V52.5CGE to skin5mm (AUC = 0.70) were prognostic for grade 3 skin toxicity. The models using the combination of D10cm(3) to skin5mm or V52.5CGE to skin5mm with breast volume marginally increased the AUC to 0.72 and 0.73, respectively. Models using the combination of D10cm(3) to skin5mm or V52.5CGE to skin5mm with history of smoking increased the AUC to 0.75 and 0.83, respectively. CONCLUSION: In the current study, we identified prognostic factors for grade 3 radiation dermatitis in patients treated with passive-scattering proton therapy for breast cancer. This study provides promising tool for identifying high risk patients for whom treatment plan adjustment could be done to reduce the risk of radiation-induced grade 3 skin toxicity.