Brachytherapy May Be Just As Effective and More Convenient than Whole Breast Radiation for Breast Cancer

Articles Letrozole May Cut Risk of Breast Cancer   Tesmilifene in Addition to Doxorubicin Improves Survival in Advanced Breast Cancer   Doxil ® Plus Gemzar ® Active in Metastatic Breast Cancer   Brachytherapy May Be Just As Effective and More Convenient than Whole Breast Radiation for Breast Cancer

According to a recent article published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, brachytherapy appears to be just as effective and more convenient than external beam radiation therapy to the whole breast for patients with early-stage breast cancer.

Patients with early-stage breast cancer (cancer that has not spread to several and/or distant sites in the body) are often treated with a lumpectomy (removal of the cancer and margin of healthy tissue) followed by radiation therapy. Most women with early-stage breast cancer receive external-beam radiation therapy, in which radiation is delivered from a machine to the whole breast. This often requires daily visits to a radiation facility, involving transportation and time issues. Researchers have been evaluating different methods of radiation therapy in order to deliver more precise treatments. Brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy that is delivered from inside the body. Seeds that contain radioactive material are implanted into and near the area of cancer. Brachytherapy does not involve daily visits to a radiation facility, as the seeds are left in the body for the duration of time that radiation is delivered. In addition, in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer, the total delivery time is less with brachytherapy (several days) than with standard external-beam radiation therapy (several weeks).

Researchers from the William Beaumont Hospital recently conducted a clinical study to determine the effectiveness of brachytherapy in breast cancer. This study involved 199 women with early-stage breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery followed by brachytherapy. Five years following therapy, 1% of patients had a local recurrence and 1% of patients had a regional cancer recurrence. Cancer spread to distant sites in the body occurred in 5% of patients. Approximately 3% of patients had died from breast cancer.

The researchers concluded that brachytherapy appears to be just as effective at reducing cancer recurrences as external-beam radiation therapy to the whole breast when compared to historical data involving women with the same disease characteristics. Besides being more convenient, brachytherapy may also lessen the radiation dose to surrounding skin, tissue and lung than external-beam radiation therapy. Patients with early-stage breast cancer may wish to speak with their physician about the risks and benefits of brachytherapy or the participation in a clinical trial evaluating other novel therapeutic approaches.

Reference:

Vicini F, Kestin L, Chen P, et al. Limited field radiation therapy in the management of early-stage breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2003;95:1205-1211.