Comparison of Conventional and Hypofractionated Radiotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients in Terms of 5-Year Survival, Locoregional Recurrence, Late Skin Complications and Cosmetic Results

Abstract

<br /> <strong><span style="font-size: small;">Bckground: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Adjuvant radiation therapy is commonly administered following breast-conserving surgery for breast </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">cancer patients. Hypofractionated radiotherapy can significantly reduce the waiting time for radiotherapy, working </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">load on machines, patient visits to radiotherapy departments and medical costs. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Material/Methods: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Fifty-two patients with operable breast cancer (pT1-3pN0M0) who underwent breast conservation surgery in Tehran Cancer Institute during January 2011 to January 2012, were randomly assigned to undergo radiotherapy in two arms (hypofractionated radiotherapy arm with 30 patients, dose 42.5 Gy in 16 fractions; and conventional radiotherapy arm with 22 patients, </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">dose 50 Gy in 25 fractions). W compared these two groups in terms of overall survival, locoregional control, late skin </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">complications and cosmetic results. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Results: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">At a median follow-up of 52.4 months (range: 0–64 months), the follow-up </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">rate was 82.6%. Overall, after 60 months, there was no detectable significant differences between groups regarding </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">cosmetic results (p = 0.857), locoregional control or survival. </span></span><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Conclusions: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The results confirm that hypofractionated </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">radiotherapy with a subsequent boost is as effective as conventional radiotherapy, is well-tolerated and can be used as an alternative treatment method following breast conservation surgery. </span></span>