Novel Methodology to Investigate the Effect of Radiation Dose to Heart Substructures on Overall Survival

PurposeFor patients with lung cancer treated with radiation therapy, a dose to the heart is associated with excess mortality; however, it is often not feasible to spare the whole heart. Our aim is to define cardiac substructures and dose thresholds that optimally reduce early mortality.Methods and MaterialsFourteen cardiac substructures were delineated on 5 template patients with representative anatomies. One thousand one hundred sixty-one...