RCT | Breast-conserving surgery without irradiation may be an option for older patients with early breast cancer

Summary: The article reports a phase 3 randomized trial that investigated the efficacy of omitting irradiation after breast-conserving surgery in women aged 65 years or older with hormone receptor-positive, node-negative, T1 or T2 primary breast cancer, and tumors ≤3 cm in the largest dimension, who received adjuvant endocrine therapy. A total of 1326 women were enrolled, with 658 receiving whole-breast irradiation and 668 receiving no irradiation. The results showed that the omission of radiotherapy led to an increased incidence of local breast cancer recurrence but had no negative effect on distant recurrence as the first event or overall survival. The study suggests that omission of radiotherapy could be a viable treatment option for older women with low-risk, hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer who receive adjuvant endocrine therapy.*

Article: Breast-Conserving Surgery with or without Irradiation in Early Breast Cancer – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries:

For many older breast cancer patients, study finds radiation doesn’t affect survival – STAT

Do Older Patients Need Radiation Rx After Breast Cancer Surgery? – HealthDay

*Note: This summary was created through the collaboration of a medical editor and ChatGPT.