BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is most commonly associated with psychological distress, particularly anxiety and depression. While physical activity has been shown to mitigate these symptoms, sedentary behaviour may contribute to their worsening. We aimed to assess changes in symptoms of anxiety/depression over time and to examine their associations with physical activity and sedentary behaviour in women undergoing chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty women aged 40–80 years with histopathologically confirmed breast cancer after surgery were consecutively recruited using purposive sampling. Each participant was assessed twice: before initiation of chemotherapy and six weeks later. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were measured using the Polish version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-L), whereas symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Statistical analyses included paired tests and correlation analyses (Spearman’s coefficients). RESULTS: Symptoms of anxiety/depression significantly decreased between assessments (p = 0.001 and p = 0.031, respectively). Higher daily walking time was inversely correlated with depression (ρ = −0.399, p = 0.002) and anxiety (ρ = −0.317, p = 0.014). Conversely, sedentary time was positively associated with both depression (ρ = 0.292, p = 0.023) and anxiety (ρ = 0.284, p = 0.028). No significant associations were found between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and psychological symptoms. Among clinical factors, only age and HER2 status showed notable influence. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, higher levels of walking were associated with lower anxiety and depression scores, while greater sedentary time was linked with higher symptom levels. These associations suggest that encouraging accessible physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour may represent useful components of supportive oncological care.
BACKGROUND: Thermoplastic immobilisation masks are widely used in head and neck radiotherapy to ensure patient stability and reproducible positioning during treatment. Because these masks are placed directly in the beam path and consist of perforated polymer materials, they may influence electron dose distributions through additional attenuation and scattering effects, particularly for low-energy electron beams. This study quantifies the dosimetric effects of perforated thermoplastic masks, considering different hole diameters and electron field sizes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Monte Carlo simulations using GATE modelled 6 MeV electron beams passing through thermoplastic masks with 2 mm and 4 mm hole diameters across 3 × 3 cm², 6 × 6 cm², and 10 × 10 cm² fields. Surface dose (D₀), depth of maximum dose (R₁₀₀), isodose depths (R₉₀, R₅₀), penumbra, flatness and gamma analysis (2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm) were evaluated. RESULTS: Masks increased D₀ up to +5.9% for 2 mm holes and +4.18% for 4 mm holes. R₁₀₀ showed up to −21.43% reduction for 2 mm masks, with lesser shifts using 4 mm holes. Penumbra widening was also detected, with a maximum relative increase of +4.40% at Zₘₐₓ for the 6 × 6 cm² field using the 2 mm mask. Gamma pass rates were better for 4 mm masks, especially at shallow depths. CONCLUSIONS: Masks with 4 mm perforations consistently outperformed 2 mm variants in dosimetric accuracy while maintaining effective immobilisation. Tailored mask selection based on field size improves clinical outcomes in electron beam radiotherapy.
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyse the influence of age, sex, and gaze direction on lens dosimetric parameters during sinonasal carcinoma radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1036 lenses from 518 CBCT image series of 24 patients were analysed. Patients were stratified into four age groups, and further grouped into younger vs. older and male vs. female categories. Lens movement amplitude and corresponding dosimetric parameters were assessed across different gaze directions. Average and maximum amplitudes of movement, along with corresponding dosimetric parameters, were quantified. RESULTS: Lens movement was significantly affected by gaze direction, with the largest displacement (0.96 ± 0.62 mm) observed in the caudal direction. Lens displacement resulted in an average increase of 2.84% ± 6.42% (range: −7.45% to 18.18%) in mean dose and 2.87% ± 8.00% (range: −17.21% to 31.42%) in maximum dose. Dose parameters at extreme gaze positions were significantly higher compared with the average lens position. No significant differences were observed between male and female groups. However, age was significantly correlated with lens dose parameters but not with displacement across gaze directions. CONCLUSIONS: Lens dose parameters were significantly influenced by age and gaze direction, but not by sex. Lens movement during routine treatment sessions was less pronounced than previously reported, suggesting that earlier studies may have overestimated lens dose. Incorporating patient-specific factors, particularly age and gaze direction, may help avoid excessive doses and mitigate the risk of radiation-induced cataract in sinonasal carcinoma radiotherapy.
