Breast-Conservation Therapy Feasible in Multiple Ipsilateral Breast Cancer

WEDNESDAY, April 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For women with multiple ipsilateral breast cancer, breast-conserving therapy (BCT) with adjuvant radiation results in a low five-year local recurrence rate, according to a study published online March 28 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Judy C. Boughey, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues examined oncologic outcomes in women aged 40 years and older with two to three foci of biopsy-proven cN0-1 breast cancer undergoing BCT. Participants underwent lumpectomy with negative margins, which was followed by whole-breast irradiation with a boost to all lumpectomy beds. A total of 204 eligible patients (median age, 61 years) underwent protocol-directed BCT.

The researchers found that six patients developed local recurrence at a median follow-up of 66.4 months, for an estimated five-year cumulative incidence of local recurrence of 3.1 percent. No associations were seen for patient age, number of sites of preoperative biopsy-proven breast cancer, estrogen receptor status and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status, and pathologic T and N categories with the risk for local recurrence. In an exploratory analysis, the five-year local recurrence rate was 22.6 and 1.7 percent, respectively, in patients without and with preoperative magnetic resonance imaging.

"This broadening of indications for BCT greatly benefits this growing population of patients as breast conservation is associated with better patient satisfaction and potentially improved survival," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries; one author has a study-related patent pending.

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