The Influence of Treatment Position (Prone vs. Supine) on Whole Breast Irradiation for Chinese Breast Cancer Patients :Comparative Study

Radiotherapy after breast conserving therapy plays an important role in early stage breast cancer patients. It not only results in a reduction in local and regional recurrence but also decrease the death rate effectively. For adjuvant radiotherapy, supine positioning is the most common approach and has multiple advantages. Due to deformability and softness of the breast, during simulation and treatment in supine position, the breast stretches over the chest wall, especially in patients with large and pendulous glands. Thus the organs at risk (OARs) received dose increased. The radiotherapeutic toxicity are unavoidable. Some present studies show that the prone positioning of patients can improve dose homogeneity and reduce the dose distribution in OARs in patients with large and pendulous glands. Chinese women have relatively small breasts, the advantages of those have not been established. Therefore, investigators compared the parameters between supine and prone positions for whole breast irradiation after conserving surgery.