Modern radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-55
Author(s):  
Csaba Polgár ◽  
Tibor Major ◽  
János Fodor

In the last four decades breast-conserving surgery followed by whole breast irradiation has become the standard of care for the treatment of early-stage (0-I-II) breast carcinoma. With the advent of breast-screening, incidence of breast carcinomas with more favorable prognostic characteristics has increased significantly. This change in the prognostic profile of newly diagnosed breast cancers opened a new horizon for clinical research seeking for individual risk-adapted protocols of breast cancer radiotherapy. Several groups have been tested the efficacy of accelerated (partial or whole) breast irradiation, which has become the new treatment paradigm in the radiotherapy of early-stage breast cancers. Furthermore, others have attempted to identify subgroups of patients for whom radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery could be safely omitted. Recently molecular gene expression assays have emerged as promising prognostic and predictive markers for local recurrence. This article reviews the results of these studies focusing on individual risk-adapted radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for patients with early-stage breast carcinoma. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 45–55.

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Timothy M Pawlik ◽  
Henry M Kuerer

Breast-conserving therapy has been established as a standard treatment for women with early-stage breast cancer. Whole-breast irradiation has traditionally been utilized to consolidate local therapy following conservative surgery. Recently, the need for whole-breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery has become controversial, with some investigators advocating accelerated partial breast irradiation as an alternative. Accelerated partial breast irradiation is delivered over a shorter period and only to a portion of the breast. This review will examine the emerging role of accelerated partial breast irradiation in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer and review the biologic rationale for, techniques of, and limitations of partial breast irradiation following breast-conserving surgery.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chirag Shah ◽  
Zahraa Al-Hilli ◽  
Frank Vicini

Radiation therapy (RT) is an essential component in the management of breast cancer. Following breast-conserving surgery (BCS), adjuvant RT is the standard of care for most patients. Traditionally, RT was delivered with standard whole breast irradiation (WBI) over 5-7 weeks following BCS. However, WBI regimens have evolved; hypofractionated WBI now represents the standard approach, reducing the duration of treatment to 3-4 weeks. Over the past year, five-fraction WBI regimens have also emerged as standard of care for some patients based on data from the FAST and FAST-Forward trials. An alternative to WBI that is also available for patients with early-stage breast cancer following BCS is partial breast irradiation, which can reduce the duration of treatment and the volume of breast tissue irradiated. Outcomes from multiple randomized trials with over a 10-year follow-up have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of partial breast irradiation approaches. Single-fraction intraoperative RT has also been evaluated in two prospective trials although the outcomes available, as well as current guidelines, do not support its utilization outside of prospective studies. For patients requiring RT to the regional lymph nodes, data have demonstrated the safety of hypofractionated approaches for those undergoing BCS or mastectomy without reconstruction. Future directions for early-stage breast cancer radiotherapy include the study of even shorter regimens and studies evaluating the omission of RT versus omission of endocrine therapy for favorable-risk patients. Furthermore, studies are also underway evaluating shorter courses of radiation in patients undergoing breast reconstruction and the use of tumor genomics to identify appropriate patients for omission of radiation with limited nodal involvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Concetta Blundo ◽  
Massimo Giroda ◽  
Nicola Fusco ◽  
Elham Sajjadi ◽  
Konstantinos Venetis ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy occurring during gestation. In early-stage breast cancer during pregnancy (PrBC), breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with delayed RT is a rational alternative to mastectomy, for long considered the standard-of-care. Regrettably, no specific guidelines on the surgical management of these patients are available. In this study, we investigated the feasibility and safety of BCS during the first trimester of pregnancy in women with early-stage PrBC. All patients with a diagnosis of PrBC during the first trimester of pregnancy jointly managed in two PrBC-specialized Centers were included in this study. All patients underwent BCS followed by adjuvant radiotherapy to the ipsilateral breast after delivery. Histopathological features and biomarkers were first profiled on pre-surgical biopsies. The primary outcome was the isolated local recurrence (ILR). Among 168 PrBC patients, 67 (39.9%) were diagnosed during the first trimester of gestation. Of these, 30 patients (age range, 23-43 years; median=36 years; gestational age, 2-12 weeks; median=7 weeks; median follow-up time=6.5 years) met the inclusion criteria. The patients that were subjected to radical surgery (n=14) served as controls. None of the patients experienced perioperative surgical complications. No ILR were observed within three months (n=30), 1 year (n=27), and 5 years (n=18) after surgery. Among the study group, 4 (12.3%) patients experienced ILR or new carcinomas after 6-13 years, the same number (n=4) had metastatic dissemination after 3-7 years. These patients are still alive and disease-free after 14-17 years of follow-up. The rate of recurrences and metastasis in the controls were not significantly different. The findings provide evidence that BCS in the first trimester PrBC is feasible and reasonably safe for both the mother and the baby.


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-202
Author(s):  
D Ghartimagar ◽  
A Ghosh ◽  
OP Talwar ◽  
R Narasimhan

Background: Breast cancers rarely occur in young women but are known to have more aggressive behaviors and poorer outcome. We here compare the significance of breast carcinoma in female below the age of 35 to the age over 35 whose specimens were submitted to Manipal teaching hospital, Pokhara. Materials and Methods: All cases of mastectomy with carcinoma from January 2000 to September 2011 were included in the study. Clinical and histopathological datas of all cases were reviewed and collated. Results: A total of 148 mastectomy specimens were received, among which, 23 cases (16%) were below 35 years; whereas 125 cases (84%) were above 35 years of age. In both groups, Stage II was the commonest stage but stage III was much more common in older group (33% versus 9%) and stage I was more common in younger age group (39% versus 27%). Bloom Richardson grading showed that in the older age group, grade 1 is the commonest grade (50%) while in the younger group; grade 3 is the commonest (39%). Patients were followed for a varying period of 6 months to 5 years. Two cases (2% of followed up cases) in older group and 3 cases (15% of followed up cases) in the younger group showed recurrence. Conclusion: Breast carcinoma in the patients younger than 35 years though presented at an early stage has higher grade tumor and poorer outcome. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jpn.v2i3.6021 JPN 2012; 2(3): 198-202


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