Study: Shorter Radiation Treatment Equally Effective After Lumpectomy

A shorter, more convenient course of radiation therapy after breast lumpectomy may be as effective as the longer, more common therapy, according to researchers at the Hamilton Regional Cancer Center in Ontario, Canada.

Radiation therapy after a lumpectomy significantly reduces the risk of recurrence of breast cancer, but the length of the course of therapy needed has been under debate.

In the United States, radiation is given in smaller doses over several weeks, but in England and Canada, larger doses are given over a shorter period of time.

Researchers compared breast cancer recurrence and cosmetic outcome in 1,234 women randomly assigned to receive either a more intensive course of radiation over 22 days or a less intensive regimen over 35 days. All of the women had undergone lumpectomies for invasive breast cancers that had not spread to the lymph nodes.

The shorter course of radiation therapy did not cause an increase in recurrence of breast cancer or a worse cosmetic outcome, according to the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

After five years, local recurrence-free survival was 97.2 percent in the shorter course group compared with 96.8 percent in the extended course group. There was no difference in disease-free or overall survival between the two groups. The cosmetic outcome was about the same in both groups as were toxic side effects from the radiation.

"A shorter fractionation schedule will lessen the burden of treatment for women, many of whom may also receive adjuvant chemotherapy, and will have important quality-of-life benefits with respect to convenience and less time away from home and work," concluded the researchers.

Other sources: Journal of the National Cancer Institute