Publications
Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) alone may not be enough to prevent heart damage during left-breast radiation therapy.6
6 Zellars R et al. SPECT analysis of cardiac perfusion changes after whole-breast/chest wall radiation therapy with or without active breathing coordinator: results of a randomized phase 3 trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 Mar 15;88(4):778-85.
Breath-hold without guidance is not always reproducible7
7 Gierga et al. A Voluntary Breath-Hold Treatment Technique for the Left Breast With Unfavorable Cardiac Anatomy Using Surface Imaging. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Dec 1;84(5):e663-8
Traditional approaches lead to large positional variations in DIBH8
8 Mittauer et al. Monitoring ABC-assisted deep inspiration breath hold for left-sided breast radiotherapy with an optical tracking system. Med Phys. 2015 Jan;42(1):134-43.
Breathing control systems can be invasive for patients9
9 Bartlett et al. The UK HeartSpare Study: randomised evaluation of voluntary deep-inspiratory breath-hold in women undergoing breast radiotherapy. Radiother Oncol. 2013 Aug;108(2):242-7.
AlignRT Advance is the only SGRT system with long-term data showing avoidance of cardiac damage in left breast cancer. During a recent study at the University of North Carolina, patients were treated using AlignRT for DIBH. Of these, 0% exhibited radiation-induced abnormalities in blood flow to the heart six months after treatment 10.
10 Zagar T, et al. Utility of Deep Inspiration Breath Hold for Left-Sided Breast Radiation Therapy in Preventing Early Cardiac Perfusion Defects: A Prospective Study. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2017;97 (5):903-909.
This compares to a previous study with a similar protocol but without AlignRT or DIBH, where 27% of patients exhibited abnormalities in heart blood flow six months after treatment.11
11 Marks et al. The incidence and functional consequences of RT associated cardiac perfusion defects. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2005 Sep 1;63(1):214-23.