Deep-inspirational breath-hold (DIBH) technique in left-sided breast cancer: various aspects of clinical utility

BACKGROUND: Studying the clinical utility of deep-inspirational breath-hold (DIBH) in left breast cancer radiotherapy (RT) was aimed at focusing on dosimetry and feasibility aspects. METHODS: In this prospective trial all enrolled patients went through planning CT in supine position under both DIBH and free breathing (FB); in whole breast irradiation (WBI) cases prone CT was also taken. In 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) plans heart, left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), ipsilateral lung and contralateral breast doses were analyzed. The acceptance of DIBH technique as reported by the patients and the staff was analyzed; post-RT side-effects including radiation lung changes (visual scores and lung density measurements) were collected. RESULTS: Among 130 enrolled patients 26 were not suitable for the technique while in 16, heart or LAD dose constraints were not met in the DIBH plans. Among 54 and 34 patients receiving WBI and postmastectomy/nodal RT, respectively with DIBH, mean heart dose (MHD) was reduced to < 50%, the heart V(25 Gy) to < 20%, the LAD mean dose to < 40% and the LAD maximum dose to about 50% as compared to that under FB; the magnitude of benefit was related to the relative increase of the ipsilateral lung volume at DIBH. Nevertheless, heart and LAD dose differences (DIBH vs. FB) individually varied. Among the WBI cases at least one heart/LAD dose parameter was more favorable in the prone or in the supine FB plan in 15 and 4 cases, respectively; differences were numerically small. All DIBH patients completed the RT, inter-fraction repositioning accuracy and radiation side-effects were similar to that of other breast RT techniques. Both the patients and radiographers were satisfied with the technique. CONCLUSIONS: DIBH is an excellent heart sparing technique in breast RT, but about one-third of the patients do not benefit from that otherwise laborious procedure or benefit less than from an alternative method. Trial registration: retrospectively registered under ISRCTN14360721 (February 12, 2021) SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13014-021-01816-3.