Keywords
Radiotherapy
Skin reaction
Dose volume
Submitted : 2025-09-17
Accepted : 2025-10-02
Published : 2025-10-17
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the impact of skin dose on post-mastectomy radiotherapy planning for breast cancer. Methods: Sixty patients undergoing radiotherapy after radical mastectomy for breast cancer were collected as research subjects and divided into a traditional group P1 and a newly designed group P2. The traditional method and a new method with the skin as an organ at risk (OAR) for dose limitation were used to set up the plans. The differences between the radiotherapy plans of the two groups were compared. All patients were followed up, focusing on the occurrence of acute skin reactions ≥ grade 2, to analyze whether limiting skin dose ultimately benefits patients. Results: According to Tables 1, 2, and 3, there was no significant increase in the target dose and the irradiated dose to organs at risk (P > 0.05). Table 4 shows that the maximum skin dose decreased by 1.95%, V107% and V110% decreased by 57.32% and 73.68%, respectively, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Table 5 reveals that among patients without skin dose limitation, 7 developed acute skin reactions ≥ grade 2, whereas only 3 developed such reactions after limitation. Although the incidence of acute skin reactions ≥ grade 2 decreased by 13.33%, the statistical results showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Limiting skin dose by considering it an organ at risk can significantly reduce the irradiated skin dose. However, reducing the skin dose in breast cancer patients does not significantly decrease the incidence of acute skin reactions ≥ grade 2. This suggests that reducing the skin dose in breast cancer patients does not significantly benefit them.
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