Axillary Surgery for Early-Stage, Node-Positive Mastectomy Patients and the Use of Postmastectomy Chest Wall Radiation Therapy

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 2220-2228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Gaines ◽  
Nicholas Suss ◽  
Ermilo Barrera ◽  
Catherine Pesce ◽  
Kristine Kuchta ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Ernest Osei ◽  
Susan Dang ◽  
Johnson Darko ◽  
Katrina Fleming ◽  
Ramana Rachakonda

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in Canadian women. Surgery is often the first line of treatment for low-risk early stage patients, followed by adjuvant radiation therapy to reduce the risk of local recurrence and prevent metastasis after lumpectomy or mastectomy. For high-risk patients with node positive disease or are at greater risk of nodal metastasis, radiation therapy will involve treatment of the intact breast or chest-wall as well as the regional lymph nodes. Materials and methods: We retrospectively evaluated the treatment plans of 354 patients with breast cancer with nodes positive or were at high risk of nodal involvement treated at our cancer centre. All patients were treated with a prescription dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions to the intact breast or chest-wall and 50 Gy in 25 fractions to the supraclavicular region and, based on patient suitability and tolerance, were treated either using the deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) or free-breathing (FB) techniques. Results: Based on patient suitability and tolerance, 130 (36·7%) patients were treated with DIBH and 224 (63·3%) with FB techniques. There were 169 (47·7%) patients treated with intact breast, whereas 185 (52·3%) were treated for post-mastectomy chest-wall. The mean PTV_eval V92%, V95%, V100% and V105% for all patients are 99·4 ± 0·7, 97·6 ± 1·6, 74·8 ± 7·9 and 1·5 ± 3·2%, respectively. The mean ipsilateral lung V10Gy, V20Gy and V30Gy are 30·0 ± 5·3, 22·4 ± 4·7 and 18·4 ± 4·3% for intact breast and 30·9 ± 5·8, 23·5 ± 5·4 and 19·4 ± 5·0% for post-mastectomy patients with FB, respectively. The corresponding values for patients treated using DIBH are 26·3 ± 5·9, 18·9 ± 5·0 and 15·6 ± 4·7% for intact breast and 27·5 ± 6·5, 20·6 ± 5·7 and 17·1 ± 5·2% for post-mastectomy patients, respectively. The mean heart V10Gy, V20Gy, is 1·8 ± 1·7, 0·9 ± 1·0 for intact breast and 3·1 ± 2·2, 1·7 ± 1·6 for post-mastectomy patients with FB, respectively. The corresponding values with the DIBH are 0·5 ± 0·7, 0·1 ± 0·4 for intact breast and 1·1 ± 1·4, 0·4 ± 0·7 for post-mastectomy patients, respectively. Conclusion: The use of 3 and/or 4 field hybrid intensity-modulated radiation therapy technique for radiation therapy of high-risk node positive breast cancer patients provides an efficient and reliable method for achieving superior dose uniformity, conformity and homogeneity in the breast or post-mastectomy chest-wall volume with minimal doses to the organs at risk. The development and implementation of a consistent treatment plan acceptability criteria in radiotherapy programmes would establish an evaluation process to define a consistent, standardised and transparent treatment path for all patients that would reduce significant variations in the acceptability of treatment plans.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilde Van Parijs ◽  
Vincent Vinh-Hung ◽  
Christel Fontaine ◽  
Guy Storme ◽  
Claire Verschraegen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Long-term prospective patient-reported outcomes (PRO) after breast cancer adjuvant radiotherapy is scarce. TomoBreast compared conventional radiotherapy (CR) with tomotherapy (TT), on the hypothesis that TT might reduce lung-heart toxicity. Methods Among 123 women consenting to participate, 64 were randomized to CR, 59 to TT. CR delivered 50 Gy in 25 fractions/5 weeks to breast/chest wall and regional nodes if node-positive, with a sequential boost (16 Gy/8 fractions/1.6 weeks) after lumpectomy. TT delivered 42 Gy/15 fractions/3 weeks to breast/chest wall and regional nodes if node-positive, 51 Gy simultaneous-integrated-boost in patients with lumpectomy. PRO were assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaire QLQ-C30. PRO scores were converted into a symptom-free scale, 100 indicating a fully symptom-free score, 0 indicating total loss of freedom from symptom. Changes of PRO over time were analyzed using the linear mixed-effect model. Survival analysis computed time to > 10% PRO-deterioration. A post-hoc cardiorespiratory outcome was defined as deterioration in any of dyspnea, fatigue, physical functioning, or pain. Results At 10.4 years median follow-up, patients returned on average 9 questionnaires/patient, providing a total of 1139 PRO records. Item completeness was 96.6%. Missingness did not differ between the randomization arms. The PRO at baseline were below the nominal 100% symptom-free score, notably the mean fatigue-free score was 64.8% vs. 69.6%, pain-free was 75.4% vs. 75.3%, and dyspnea-free was 84.8% vs. 88.5%, in the TT vs. CR arm, respectively, although the differences were not significant. By mixed-effect modeling on early ≤2 years assessment, all three scores deteriorated, significantly for fatigue, P ≤ 0.01, without effect of randomization arm. By modeling on late assessment beyond 2 years, TT versus CR was not significantly associated with changes of fatigue-free or pain-free scores but was associated with a significant 8.9% improvement of freedom from dyspnea, P = 0.035. By survival analysis of the time to PRO deterioration, TT improved 10-year survival free of cardiorespiratory deterioration from 66.9% with CR to 84.5% with TT, P = 0.029. Conclusion Modern radiation therapy can significantly improve long-term PRO. Trial registration Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.govNCT00459628, April 12, 2007 prospectively.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (26_suppl) ◽  
pp. 81-81
Author(s):  
Sophia Edwards-Bennett ◽  
Stephen Andrews ◽  
Patrick Francke ◽  
Frank Vicini

81 Background: The benefit of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) has been established for left breast cancer. However, IMRT is not routinely employed for right breast cancer. The purpose of this study is to (1) compare dosimetric parameters in women with early stage right breast cancer undergoing whole breast radiation therapy using 3-dimensional conformal radiation (3DCRT) versus intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) (2) determine treatment planning and/or anatomical correlates for patients who may benefit from IMRT. Methods: IMRT versus 3DCRT treatment plans were compared for 20 consecutive female patients with early stage (T1-T2 N0M0 ) right breast cancer treated at our center from 1/2012 to 12/2012. The planned target volume (PTV), contoured according to the RTOG atlas guidelines, was prescribed to 46-8-50.4 Gy in 26-28 fractions with PTV coverage goal of ≥ 95 % receiving the prescription dose. Dosimetric and anatomic parameters: % right lung receiving 20 Gy (lung V20), maximum breast dose (Dmax), maximum skin dose (Dmax skin), chest wall separation (CWS) and medial gantry angle (MGA) were determined for each paired treatment plan. Wilcoxon-signed rank test was utilized to compare IMRT and 3DCRT dosimetric parameters. Univariate analysis was used to identify planning or anatomic correlates associated with favorable dosimetric outcomes. Results: The lung V20Gy for IMRT ( 10.86±2.81%) was significantly lower than for 3DCRT (12.92±3.45 %, p < 0.043). IMRT significantly reduced Dmax to 53.79 ± 2.17 Gy from 56.7 ± 2.24 Gy with 3DCRT (p 0.001). 3DCRT yielded significantly higher Dmax skin (33.47±3.21 Gy) than IMRT (24.16 ±2.65 Gy, p< 0.0001). Mean CWS and MGA were 22.4 ± 2.6 cm and 126 ± 5.1° respectively. There was a significant association between CWS and Dmax for 3DCRT (p < 0.026). Conclusions: The most significant impact of IMRT for right breast cancer was the reduction of Dmax and Dmax skin, with a more tempered advantage in the reduction of lung V20. Reduction of maximum breast and skin dose harbors clinical relevance as it relates to acute skin toxicity, long- term fibrosis and adverse cosmetic outcomes. Chest wall separation may be a potential planning surrogate marker to determine which right-sided breast cancer patients may benefit from IMRT.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 175628721982897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinglei Shen ◽  
William Parker ◽  
Leah Miller ◽  
Mindi TenNapel

Background: Radiation therapy (RT) is an effective modality for the treatment of squamous cell carcinomas of the penis. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends consideration of primary radiation for penile preservation, in surgically unresectable tumors, and as adjuvant therapy for positive margins, bulky groin nodes or pelvic nodes. We performed a population-based analysis to evaluate the usage of RT in penile cancer from 2007 to 2013. Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results ( SEER) database to identify men diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis from 2007 to 2013. Patients were grouped as early stage (T1–T2N0), locally advanced (T3–T4N0), node-positive (T1xN1–3) and metastatic. We used linear regression model to test for factors associated with adjuvant radiation in node-positive patients. Results: We identified 2200 men diagnosed with penile cancer between 2007 and 2013. Of these, 66.4% had early stage, 10.7% had locally advanced, 15.5% had node-positive, 3.2% had metastatic cancer. Among patient with early stage cancer, RT was used in 14 patients (1.0%) and postoperative radiation in an additional 45 patients (3.1%). Among 340 patients with node-positive cancer, 62.1% received surgery alone, 5.6% radiation alone, 21.8% surgery with adjuvant radiation, and 10.6% neither surgery nor radiation. Of patients who had surgery, 26.0% had adjuvant radiation. On univariate analysis, higher nodal stage (N2–3 versus N1) was associated with adjuvant radiation ( p = 0.02), while there was a trend for higher T-stage (T3/T4 versus T1/T2) ( p = 0.08) and history of prior malignancy ( p = 0.06). On multivariate analysis, only higher nodal stage (N2–3 versus N1) was associated with use of adjuvant radiation [hazard ratio (HR) 1.94, p = 0.03]. Conclusions: A small percentage of patient who are eligible for primary or adjuvant RT in the United States receive this treatment. Further work should be done to assess barriers to use of radiation in patients with penile cancer.


1991 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1662-1667 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Recht ◽  
S E Come ◽  
R S Gelman ◽  
M Goldstein ◽  
S Tishler ◽  
...  

The optimal means of combining breast-conserving surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with early-stage, node-positive breast cancer is not known. We reviewed the results in 295 patients treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy and affiliated institutions from 1976 to 1985. All patients had positive axillary nodes on dissection, had no gross residual disease in the breast or axilla after surgery, and received breast irradiation (with or without nodal irradiation) and three or more cycles of a cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF)-based or doxorubicin-containing regimen. Median follow-up in patients without any failure was 78 months. Breast failure rates were assessed in relation to the sequencing of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The different sequences were not randomly assigned, and the characteristics of the sequence groups differed. The actuarial 5-year breast failure rate was 4% in 99 patients receiving radiotherapy before chemotherapy; 8% in 54 patients sequentially receiving some chemotherapy, then radiotherapy without concurrent chemotherapy, then further chemotherapy; and 6% in 116 patients receiving concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, the failure rate was 41% in 26 patients who received all chemotherapy before radiotherapy. The crude incidences of local failure within 4 years of treatment in these groups were 3%, 2%, 4%, and 15%, respectively (P = .065 for all four groups not being the same). The actuarial 5-year local failure rate was 5% for 252 patients irradiated within 16 weeks after surgery compared with 35% for 34 patients irradiated more than 16 weeks after surgery. The 4-year crude incidences were 4% and 12% for the two groups, respectively (P = .06). These results suggest that delaying the initiation of radiotherapy may result in an increased likelihood of local failure. Formal randomized controlled trials will be needed to confirm these results and to improve the integration of these treatment modalities.


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