Women with breast cancer who undergo a breast-conserving lumpectomy and are then treated with tamoxifen, radiation or no therapy all have about the same disease-free survival rates, according to researchers from Toyosu Hospital in Japan.

Researchers assigned 112 breast cancer patients, all of whom had breast-conserving lumpectomies, to no therapy or to tamoxifen treatment for 2 years. All of the tumors removed were 2 cm or smaller, according to the research published in the journal Clinical Drug Investigations.

The women who did not receive any post-surgical treatment had a 5-year average disease-free survival rate of 86 percent and the women taking tamoxifen post-surgically had a disease-free survival rate of 78.5 percent, according to the study.

Investigators also analyzed data on 70 women who received radiation therapy after their breast-conserving surgery and found the 5 year disease-free survival and overall survival rates similar to that of the study participants taking tamoxifen or in the no-treatment group.

Other Sources: Clinical Drug Investigations