Breast Cancer Recurrence Prevented By Extra Radiation Dose

The study involved 5,318 women who underwent lumpectomies and whole breast radiation treatment as part of their breast conserving therapy for stage I and stage II breast cancer and were assessed 10 years later. Researchers wanted to determine if a boost dose of radiation following this treatment would decrease the risk of breast cancer recurrence. In addition to this, a sub-group of 1,725 patients were evaluated to determine the highest risk factors for localized breast cancer recurrence.

"The study found that the largest benefits of the boost dose of radiation after standard breast conserving treatment is seen in young women, who have a higher risk to breast cancer recurrence to begin with,” said Harry Bartelink, M.D., Ph.D., the senior author of the study and professor and radiation oncologist at The Netherlands Cancer Institute at Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

For patients with early stage breast cancer, the current conventional treatment involves breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy), followed by radiation therapy to the breast over a six to eight week period to destroy any remaining cancer cells. In this study, an additional boost of high-dose radiation was administered after standard radiation therapy to the lumpectomy site where the tumor was removed to potentially increase the chances of a cure.

With a lumpectomy, the surgeon removes the tumor, along with neighboring healthy tissue. If the outside of the tumor, or margin, has cancer cells present, then it is considered a positive margin. If unclear, or a very small distance, then clinicians call it a close margin. Women who have positive and close surgical margins are at a higher risk of breast cancer returning, compared to those who have negative margins that are free of cancer.

The study also revealed that early-stage breast cancer patients who were at a younger age are most likely to have their cancer come back (recurrence), especially those who have positive surgical margins. This study and earlier ones have shown that young patients with early-stage breast cancer have a higher risk of breast recurrence, compared to older patients because their cancer tends to be more aggressive.


Related Links:
The Netherlands Cancer Institute