Interobserver variability in the delineation of the tumour bed using seroma and surgical clips based on 4DCT scan for external-beam partial breast irradiation

BACKGROUND To explore the interobserver variability in the delineation of the tumour bed using seroma and surgical clips based on the four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) scan for external-beam partial breast irradiation (EB-PBI) during free breathing. METHODS Patients with a seroma clarity score (SCS) 3 ~ 5 and ≥5 surgical clips in the lumpectomy cavity after breast-conserving surgery who were recruited for EB-PBI underwent 4DCT simulation. Based on the ten sets of 4DCT images acquired, the tumour bed formed using the clips, the seroma, and both the clips and seroma (defined as TBC, TBS and TBC+S, respectively) were delineated by five radiation oncologists using specific guidelines. The following parameters were calculated to analyse interobserver variability: volume of the tumour bed (TBC, TBS, TBC+S), coefficient of variation (COVC, COVS, COVC+S), and matching degree (MDC, MDS, MDC+S). RESULTS The interobserver variability for TBC and TBC+S and for COVC and COVC+S were statistically significant (p = 0.021, 0.008, 0.002, 0.015). No significant difference was observed for TBS and COVS (p = 0.867, 0.061). Significant differences in interobserver variability were observed for MDC vs MDS, MDC vs MDC+S, MDS vs MDC+S (p = 0.000, 0.032, 0.008), the interobserver variability of MDS was smaller than that of MDC and MDC+S (MDS > MDC+S > MDC). CONCLUSIONS When the SCS was 3 ~ 5 points and the number of surgical clips was ≥5, interobserver variability was minimal for the delineation of the tumour bed based on seroma.