Electron arc therapy: clinical experience with chest wall irradiation

Area of Science:

• Radiation Oncology
• Medical Physics
• Oncology

Background:

• Fixed field photon and electron beam irradiation for chest wall treatment presents technical challenges.
• Standard approaches may have limitations in effectively delivering radiation to the chest wall in breast cancer patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical outcomes and safety of electron arc therapy for chest wall irradiation in breast cancer patients.
• To compare the efficacy of electron arc therapy with standard fixed-field techniques.

Main Methods:

• Chest wall irradiation using a moving electron beam rotating around the patient's thorax (electron arc therapy).
• Treatment applied to 22 breast cancer patients, including those treated post-mastectomy (elective or for recurrence) and one with advanced disease.
• Median follow-up of 24 months.

Main Results:

• One chest failure observed in a patient treated for local recurrence.
• No major complications affecting skin, lung, soft tissue, or esophagus were noted.
• Minor telangiectasia occurred in 3 patients at the junction of electron arc and photon fields.

Conclusions:

• Electron arc therapy is a safe and efficacious technique for chest wall irradiation in breast cancer.
• This method offers advantages over standard fixed-field approaches in specific clinical scenarios.
• The technique demonstrates good tolerance, even in patients receiving concurrent chemotherapy.