Radiotherapy
provided at modern cancer treatment centers is aimed at killing any microscopic
remains of a tumor left after surgery to reduce the chances of the cancer
coming back or spreading elsewhere in the body.
WHY IS RADIOTHERAPY NEEDED?
Generally
women with breast cancer are treated with surgical intervention. The surgery
can be mastectomy that is complete removal of the breast or breast-conserving
surgery involving partial removal of a section from the breast. Usually
Radiotherapy is advised for all women who have breast-conserving surgery. For
women who have a mastectomy, radiotherapy is necessary only if the disease has
spread to the lymph nodes in their arm-pits and not otherwise.
Several studies and trials have conclusively
demonstrated that post-operative radiotherapy markedly reduces the rate of
local recurrence after breast conserving surgery in breast cancer treatment. Researchers opine that
breast cancer treatment approaches at different hospitals have changed rapidly
since these trials began, but having information about the long-term benefits
of radiotherapy for women suffering from breast cancer will guide the direction
of future treatment and research.
LATEST RESEARCH AND FINDINGS
Recently the largest study by far of the effects of
radiotherapy for women who have undergone breast-conserving surgery analysed
data from clinical trials involving well over 10,000 women were attempted and
the findings were published in the Lancet medical Journal.
A study
led by Oxford University researchers has come to conclude that Radiotherapy
after surgery for breast cancer halves the chances of the cancer coming back in
the next decade. Even incidents of death due to breast cancer over the next 15
years are reduced by one sixth post radiotherapy.
Another
significant study which provided some crucial insights into the correlation
between radiation and cancer recurrence is the study by the Early Breast Cancer
Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) recording the histories of all the
women who participated in 17 trials of radiotherapy after breast-conserving
surgery. The results of radiotherapy for each woman were followed for at least
10 years on average.
SUPPORTING STATISTICS
The decrease
in cancer recurrence is clearly evident within the first year after
radiotherapy and is persistent through the first ten years. After a decade of breast
cancer diagnosis, 35% of the women who did not undergo radiotherapy were found
having a recurrence, compared to only 19% of the women who had radiotherapy had
been reported to have a recurrence.
15 years
after breast cancer diagnosis, 25% of the women who did not undergo
radiotherapy had died from breast cancer compared with only 21% of the women
who had radiotherapy, clearly suggesting that relating statistics if fatalities
with radiotherapy may require longer periods of time to be in consideration.
The
statistics reinforce the significant role played by radiotherapy in the
management of breast cancer. Statistics have established that benefits of
radiation are complementary to the advances in both surgery and systemic
treatment of breast cancer treatment at every cancer treatment center.
EXCEPTIONS FOUND IN RESEARCH
All
studies have found some minor exception to the general findings:
·
Breast
cancer in younger patients is more responsive to radiotherapy though no clear
explanation has been found for this. The additional treatment is not
ineffective in older patients but its efficacy is slightly reduced, though for
all age groups the proportional benefits are same.
·
Patients
who were at low risk from the beginning experience less benefit from
radiotherapy.
·
All
statistics and estimates are based on data from thousands of people with this
but the actual risk for a particular individual may differ from the general
trends at times.
Breast cancer recurrence is shown to clearly reduce
after radiotherapy by most of the studies undertaken however new figures and
findings can keep emerging with new technological advances in this field.
