Shortened therapy effective

Intense radiation therapy for three weeks after surgery for early breast cancer keeps the disease at bay just as well as lower doses for five weeks, a study found.
The results suggest some of the 182,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the U.S. may undergo a shorter period of treatment, getting them back to their families and jobs more quickly, researchers said. The faster approach is two-thirds the cost of standard care, they said at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s annual meeting.
Many women with early-stage breast cancer elect to have only the cancerous tissue removed, a surgery known as a lumpectomy. The operation is typically followed by whole breast radiation, used to kill any lingering malignant cells. Researchers have been investigating ways to streamline or improve the process, which typically takes five to seven weeks and is draining for patients and their families.
“We were surprised that the risk of local recurrence and side effects for women treated with accelerated whole breast irradiation was so low,” said lead author Timothy Whelan, a radiation oncology specialist at the Juravinski Cancer Center in McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
More than 1,200 women were treated with either the accelerated three-week dose of radiation or the standard five-week therapy, then tracked for recurrences for up to 12 years. The cancer returned to the same breast a decade after treatment in 6.2 percent of those treated for three weeks and 6.7 percent of those getting standard therapy, the study found. &#8226