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Radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer lowers risk for local cancer recurrence and lengthens survival (Lancet 2005; 366:2087). Whether the interval between surgery and radiotherapy affects outcomes, however, is unclear. In this retrospective study, investigators studied 18,000 older women (age, ≥65) with stage 0–2 breast cancer who received breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy, but not chemotherapy, to determine whether the length of the interval between surgery and radiotherapy affected risk for local cancer recurrence.
The median time from breast surgery to start of radiotherapy was 34 days. During a mean follow-up of 5.4 years, 734 women (4%) experienced local recurrences. In a multivariate analysis, an inter…