Good News for Breast Cancer Patients... The Time for Radiation Therapy Used to Prevent Breast Cancer Will be Much Shorter!

Study Finds Hypofraction Radiotherapy Effective in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

According to the results of two long-term studies published in the Lancet Oncology Journal, hypofraction radiotherapy appears to be effective in early-stage breast cancer compared to previous standard regimens.

Current Treatment for Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Early-stage breast cancer is mostly treated by removing the cancerous cells that we cannot see with the naked eye, with radiotherapy after chemotherapy, which is applied after the tumor is removed by surgical intervention. Especially in patients with a large tumor in the breast and/or spreading to more than one lymph node in the axillary lymph nodes, standard radiotherapy treatment is administered by giving a total dose of 50 Gy radiotherapy for five weeks, five days a week. This method means a long process and high-dose radiation concerns for patients.

Hypofraction Radiotherapy as an Alternative

Hypofraction radiotherapy, an alternative to classical regimens, means less number of treatments in a short time, including high-dose radiation. However, the total radiation dose is lower during the entire treatment process.

The Studies

The scientists, who came together to examine the effect of this hypofraction radiotherapy on patients with early-stage breast cancer, conducted two separate studies in the UK, START-A and START-B. These two studies were carried out with the participation of 4,451 female patients with early-stage breast cancer over 18 who received chemotherapy after surgery and then standard radiotherapy or hypofractional radiotherapy in 35 different radiotherapy centers.

Results of the Studies

In the START-A study, after an average of 9.3 years of observation, 7.4% of 139 patients with regional cancer recurrence received a standard 50 Gy regimen; Cancer was detected in 6.3% of those who received a 41.6 Gy regimen, and 8.8% of those who received a 39-dose regimen.
In the START-B study, after an average of 9.9 years of observation, 4.3% of 95 patients with regional recurrence of cancer received a 40 Gy regimen; Cancer was detected in 5.5% of those who received a 50 Gy regimen.

Effects on Normal Tissues

Differences in radiation effects on normal tissues were also observed. In the START-A trial, very small differences were obtained between the 41.6-dose and 50-dose regimens, while effects such as breast edema, telangiectasia (lesions caused by spider veins - dilated veins), hardening of the breast; It was less common in patients receiving a 39 Gy regimen than in patients receiving a 50 Gy regimen. In the START-B trial, effects such as breast shrinkage, telangiectasia (lesions caused by spider veins - dilated vessels), and breast edema were observed less in patients receiving the 40 Gy regimen than in patients receiving the 50 Gy regimen.

Conclusion

After 10 years of observation in both studies, the researchers concluded that the application of hypofraction radiotherapy did not cause a significant change in the regional recurrence rates of cancer when compared to standard radiotherapy. However, the findings are that hypofraction radiotherapy creates a lower radiation effect on normal tissues.
In line with these data, it was concluded that hypofraction radiotherapy is effective and safe in patients with early stage breast cancer. These results suggest that the use of the 15-fraction 40 Gy regimen, which is already used as a standard radiotherapy treatment in women with early-stage breast cancer in the UK, will become widespread in the international arena.