| Summary: | Adjuvant radiotherapy is an important treatment modality after breast-conserving surgery. Due to its proximity, radiation therapy for the left breast can often lead to an escalated heart dose that can result in heart diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the heart dose reduction by using lead shields surrounding the left breast. The doses of a 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) plan, an intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plan, and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) to the left breast tumor in a CIRS ATOM anthropomorphic female adult phantom were measured by optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs). To protect critical organs, the skin around the target area was covered by lead shields of two different thicknesses (0.125 mm and 0.25 mm). The results showed that compared to IMRT and 3D-CRT, VMAT provided better planning target volume (PTV) coverage, a better conformity index (CI), and homogeneity index (HI). With the use of lead shields, the thyroid dose was reduced by 5.12–27.5% and 20.51–30%, respectively; the heart dose was reduced by 49.41–50.12% and 56.38–57.42%, respectively; and the lung dose was reduced by 1.23–45.22% and 0.98–57.83%, respectively. Although the clinical application of lead shields was rare, this study verified that it could effectively decrease the heart dose from 4.31 ± 0.09 Gy to 1.88–2.18 Gy, thereby potentially reducing the risk of associated heart diseases by 14.8%. Further works to implement this method into clinical practice are needed.
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