Impact of surface-guided positioning on the use of portal imaging and initial set-up duration in breast cancer patients

Objective The impact of optical surface guidance on the use of portal imaging and the initial set-up duration in patients receiving postoperative radiotherapy of the breast or chest wall was investigated. Material and methods A retrospective analysis was performed including breast cancer patients who received postoperative radiotherapy between January 2016 and December 2016. One group of patients received treatment before the optical surface scanner was installed (no-OSS) and the other group was positioned using the additional information derived by the optical surface scanner (OSS). The duration of the initial set-up was recorded for each patient and a comparison of both groups was performed. Accordingly, the differences between planned and actually acquired portal images during the course of radiotherapy were compared between both groups. Results A total of 180 breast cancer patients were included (90 no-OSS, 90 OSS) in this analysis. Of these, 30 patients with left-sided breast cancer received radiotherapy in deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH). The mean set-up time was 10 min and 18 s and no significant difference between the two groups of patients was found ( p = 0.931). The mean set-up time in patients treated without DIBH was 9 min and 45 s compared to 13 min with DIBH ( p