New research reveals that shorter radiotherapy treatment for women with breast cancer is the best option.
Health on Female First
Giving radiotherapy as a lower overall dose in fewer, higher doses over a shorter period of time is at least as effective and safe as the current international standard found the long-term results of the landmark START trials.
“These 10-year results reassure us that 3 weeks of radiotherapy is as good as the 5 weeks still used in many countries, with less damage to nearby healthy tissue, as well as being more convenient for women (shorter waiting lists and fewer hospital visits) and cheaper for health services”, explains study leader Professor John Yarnold from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, UK, in The Lancet Oncology.
The study found that the group given higher doses in a shorter time period had significantly less harm to healthy tissue.
These outcomes were much the same irrespective of age, tumour grade, stage, chemotherapy use, or use of tumour bed boost.
According to Yarnold, “The upshot is that—contrary to conventional thinking—cancer cells are just as sensitive to the size of daily radiotherapy dose as the normal tissues responsible for late onset side effects, meaning that the continued use of traditional lower doses spares the cancer as much as the healthy tissue, offering no benefit to patients. Our results support the continued use of 40 Gy in 15 fractions, which has already been adopted as the standard of care by most UK centres.”
Sally Greenbrook, from leading charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says: “We’re pleased this study shows that three weeks of radiotherapy is as safe and effective as the more traditional five week dose for breast cancer patients.
“While radiotherapy is a vital treatment for many people with breast cancer, it can have side effects and the five week course of treatment can prove to be both disruptive and inconvenient.
“Many UK hospitals have already adopted this shorter regime, as it benefits patients and saves health services time and money, and this study confirms that the NHS is providing the best possible care to UK patients.
“If anyone is concerned about their radiotherapy treatment, we recommend they speak to their doctor.”
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