Start here · Students & new planners

I’m planning my first whole breast case

A learning roadmap: the concepts and resources to understand before planning whole-breast radiotherapy. It is not instruction on how to treat any specific patient.

  1. Understand the anatomy

    Why the lung and heart shape every breast plan.

  2. Understand setup and breath hold

    Breast board, arm position, wiring and deep-inspiration breath hold.

  3. Understand the target volumes

    Tumor bed, breast CTV, PTV_Eval and boost.

  4. Review contouring resources

    Organ contouring guides for the chest, including the breasts, heart and LAD.

  5. Understand dose homogeneity

    Why hot and cold spots across a curved target matter.

  6. Understand Vx and mean dose

    How breast lung and heart limits are written.

  7. Review common dose constraints

    Limits for 15–16 and 5 fractions, with the study behind each.

  8. Review the key trials

    START, FAST-Forward, RTOG 1005 and IMPORT HIGH.

  9. Understand basic plan evaluation

    Putting coverage, hotspots and organ doses together.