Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Given low locoregional recurrence rates among many patients who do not undergo this treatment, recommendations for its use should be reconsidered.

Postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) is thought to provide the greatest benefits to patients who have large primary breast tumors (>5 cm) or ≥4 involved axillary lymph nodes, but often, this therapy is administered to women who have smaller tumors and fewer involved lymph nodes. Evidence supporting this approach comes from relatively old studies in which locoregional recurrence (LRR) rates were quite high among women who did not receive PMRT. However, given recent improvements in surgical and other treatments, recurrence rates without PMRT might be lower than previously recorded and the benefits from PMRT less pronounced.

To determine LRR rates in more recently treated (1997 to 2002) breast cancer patients, investigators from M.D. Anderso…

Reviewing Author

William J. Gradishar, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardLilly; AstraZeneca; Gilead

Grant/Research SupportBreast Cancer Research Foundation

Editorial BoardsClinical Breast Cancer; Oncology; Annals of Surgery; Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNational Comprehensive Cancer Network (Chair, Breast Cancer Panel); American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology Board)