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When giving a breast boost, what are indications for a photon breast boost?

At what energy of electrons would it be better to use photons? How many fields and what field angles should be used for photon boosts? Do we worry about secondary malignancies?
2 Answers
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Radiation Oncology · Varian Medical Systems/Allegheny health network
Answered on

In general, once the surgical cavity depth approaches 5 cm then it is harder to cover with electrons. That being said, for these patients with disease in the outer quadrant, the lateral decubitus position helps significantly to bring the cavity close to the surface. We published this data: http://ww...

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Radiation Oncology · USC Keck School of Medicine
Answered on

Agree with @Dr. First Last above.

With everything flipped upside down in the prone technique, however, the boost modality used is also switched to photon as default, with exceptional cases where patient is re-set up supine for electron boost portion if needed.

For vast majority of my cases, prone brea...

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