Radiological findings when very small lung volumes are irradiated in breast and chest wall treatment

Acute pneumonitis following breast irradiation is a rare and transient phenomenon that can be easily managed by drugs. The aim of this study is to evaluate late sequelae on lung, after postoperative radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer. We were concerned with investigating late radiological findings when very small lung volumes are involved in the irradiated volume. We studied 28 consecutive patients. They underwent clinical examination and all staging procedures before surgery, evaluation of pulmonary function with spirometry, postoperative chest x-ray and high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the lung before RT. Clinical examinations were usually performed every 3 months after RT. A second chest x-ray, HRCT and spirometry were carried out after nearly 7 months from the end of RT. We estimated the irradiated lung volume by measuring the area of the lung surface enclosed by the 50% isodose (LA50) in each profile. We found a significant correlation between LA50 and the score of radiological findings after RT. No correlations were found between other factors (i.e., adjuvant chemotherapy, age, weight, smoking) and lung fibrosis. No woman developed radiation pneumonitis syndrome or respiratory symptoms. Our results indicate that irradiation of the breast and/or chest wall is well tolerated if treatment planning is done accurately. The fibrosis likelihood is strongly correlated to the irradiated lung volume. The use of tangential fields limits radiological changes that can be detected only by HRCT examination and are not associated with clinical symptoms. Radiat. Oncol. Invest. 1998;6:58–62. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.