The number of patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a very common early-stage and noninvasive form of breast cancer, has risen dramatically since the early 1980s. Now, a recent study shows that accelerated whole breast irradiation after lumpectomy is an effective treatment for DCIS, which means that many more breast cancer patients could experience a great reduction in length of treatment.
Lumpectomy plus radiation has been proven in multiple studies to significantly reduce the risk of recurrence in both noninvasive and invasive breast cancers and for DCIS. However, 5 to 6 weeks of whole breast radiation following lumpectomy is the current standard of treatment.
In a study published in the June issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics, researchers followed 145 DCIS patients who were treated with lumpectomy and accelerated whole breast irradiation or lumpectomy with accelerated whole breast irradiation plus an additional daily boost. At 5 years posttreatment, only 4.1% of patients experienced a recurrence. This is comparable to the randomized trials in which patients received standard radiation and the recurrence rate was 5% to 10%.
“The results of our study suggest that DCIS patients can be safely treated with a shorter regimen of radiotherapy,” Silvia Formenti, MD, senior author of the study and a radiation oncologist at New York University School of Medicine, said. “This is good news for many breast cancer patients who would prefer to receive their treatments in a shorter period of time, but also want the peace of mind that they are receiving the most effective treatment available.”
Source: ASTRO.