Quality assessment of 2705 treatment plans in the randomised Danish Breast Cancer Group Skagen trial 1
Abstract
Purpose: Based on prospectively uploaded treatment plans, a comprehensive analysis of the radiation therapy (RT) in the DBCG Skagen trial 1 is presented.
Methods: From 2015 to 2021, 2963 breast cancer patients referred to adjuvant locoregional breast cancer RT after breast conserving surgery (BCS) or mastectomy were randomised to 50 Gy/25 fractions versus 40 Gy/15 fractions. Tumour-bed boost was simultaneous integrated boost (SIB). Delineated structure volumes were per ESTRO guidelines. Dosimetric data were obtained from the individual treatment plans.
Results: RT treatment plans from 2705 patients treated at 14 centres in 4 countries were analysed corresponding to 94 % of the per protocol patients. Overall, 1407 had BCS, 1298 had mastectomy, and 437 had SIB. The randomisation was balanced: 1329 (50 Gy) versus 1376 (40 Gy). All plans had target volume delineations per ESTRO guidelines. No significant differences were observed regarding delineated volumes nor regarding inter-centre variations per randomisation arm. Compliance to protocol constraints was generally high, however, the "hot-spot" dose compliance was higher in 50 Gy plans compared to 40 Gy plans due to stricter high dose constraints for the 40 Gy arm. The minimum coverage of target volumes was similar per randomisation arms. Respiratory gating technique was used in 83 % of the patients. When divided into subgroups per laterality and breathing technique, significantly higher lung and heart doses were detected in…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 2,963 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Preliminary Toxicity Analysis of 3DCRT versus IMRT on the High Dose Arm of the RTOG 0126 Prostate Cancer Trial
- Adaptive Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: Initial Clinical Outcomes from a Prospective Trial
- American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 263: Standardizing Nomenclatures in Radiation Oncology
- Motion Management Strategies and Technical Issues Associated with Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy of Thoracic and Upper Abdominal Tumors: A Review from NRG Oncology
- High-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy as a monotherapy for localized prostate cancer: treatment description and preliminary results of a phase I/II clinical trial
- Highly efficient training, refinement, and validation of a knowledge-based plan quality control system for radiotherapy clinical trials
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.