Rechner LA, et al. - This study compared the life years lost (LYL) attributable to late effects after radiotherapy (RT) for mediastinal Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in free breathing (FB) and deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH), and proton therapy in FB and DIBH. This study encouraged to use patient-specific plan comparisons to select the optimal technique when comparing IMRT in DIBH and proton therapy in FB.

Methods

• Experts created plans for each technique for 22 patients with HL.
• They extracted doses and estimated the risk of late effects and LYL.

Results

• As compared to IMRT in FB, the use of DIBH, proton therapy, and the combination significantly reduced the LYL.
• Results revealed lowest LYL for proton therapy in DIBH.
• No significant difference was found when IMRT in DIBH was compared to proton therapy in FB.