Shorter Treatments Available for Breast Cancer Patients
Shorter Treatments Available for Breast Cancer Patients
May 22, 2000 (New Orleans) -- Radiation or chemotherapy treatment for some women with breast cancer can be shortened, according to two new studies presented here at a meeting of the nation's leading cancer physicians and researchers. Canadian researchers report that the duration of radiation therapy can be decreased safely, and a separate study finds that women can feel confident about receiving chemotherapy for two months instead of the traditional six months. In addition, researchers confirmed that adding tamoxifen to chemotherapy does not increase survival in women with certain types of breast tumors.
The radiation study involved more than 1,200 breast cancer patients who had already been treated with lumpectomy, a procedure where the breast tumor is removed but the breast itself is not. Researcher Timothy Whelan, MD, and fellow researchers found that three weeks of a slightly higher dose of radiation was just as effective as five weeks of the traditional dose. Whelan is an associate professor of radiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Doctors had been concerned about increasing the dose of radiation because previous studies had shown an increase in the occurrence of late side effects, appearing months to years after receiving radiation. These side effects include thickening of the skin on the breast and the development of small blood vessels near the skin.
"We found no difference in survival based on duration of radiation therapy, and we also looked at how satisfied women were with the cosmetic outcome -- how their breasts looked -- and found no difference there either," Whelan tells WebMD. "Shorter duration of therapy is less difficult for women to deal with because they don't have to do as much traveling or take as much time off of work or those sorts of things. Also, treating for a shorter period of time allows us to treat more patients. We're convinced in Canada that this will change the standard of practice to a shorter period of radiation therapy following lumpectomy."
The second study was conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project (NSABP), the largest government-sponsored organization evaluating breast cancer treatment in the U.S. Bernard Fisher, MD, scientific director of the NSABP, and colleagues looked at two available chemotherapy treatments. The older treatment involves three drugs taken for six months, while the newer treatment using two drugs is given for just two months. The shorter treatment was as effective as the longer one in women with early-stage breast cancer that has not spread, or metastasized, and it caused fewer side effects.
Shorter Treatments Available for Breast Cancer Patients
May 22, 2000 (New Orleans) -- Radiation or chemotherapy treatment for some women with breast cancer can be shortened, according to two new studies presented here at a meeting of the nation's leading cancer physicians and researchers. Canadian researchers report that the duration of radiation therapy can be decreased safely, and a separate study finds that women can feel confident about receiving chemotherapy for two months instead of the traditional six months. In addition, researchers confirmed that adding tamoxifen to chemotherapy does not increase survival in women with certain types of breast tumors.
The radiation study involved more than 1,200 breast cancer patients who had already been treated with lumpectomy, a procedure where the breast tumor is removed but the breast itself is not. Researcher Timothy Whelan, MD, and fellow researchers found that three weeks of a slightly higher dose of radiation was just as effective as five weeks of the traditional dose. Whelan is an associate professor of radiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Doctors had been concerned about increasing the dose of radiation because previous studies had shown an increase in the occurrence of late side effects, appearing months to years after receiving radiation. These side effects include thickening of the skin on the breast and the development of small blood vessels near the skin.
"We found no difference in survival based on duration of radiation therapy, and we also looked at how satisfied women were with the cosmetic outcome -- how their breasts looked -- and found no difference there either," Whelan tells WebMD. "Shorter duration of therapy is less difficult for women to deal with because they don't have to do as much traveling or take as much time off of work or those sorts of things. Also, treating for a shorter period of time allows us to treat more patients. We're convinced in Canada that this will change the standard of practice to a shorter period of radiation therapy following lumpectomy."
The second study was conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project (NSABP), the largest government-sponsored organization evaluating breast cancer treatment in the U.S. Bernard Fisher, MD, scientific director of the NSABP, and colleagues looked at two available chemotherapy treatments. The older treatment involves three drugs taken for six months, while the newer treatment using two drugs is given for just two months. The shorter treatment was as effective as the longer one in women with early-stage breast cancer that has not spread, or metastasized, and it caused fewer side effects.