Project description:Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) is an important part of breast cancer management but the dose and fractionation schedules used are variable. A total of 50 Gy in 25 daily fractions delivered over 5 weeks is often considered the "standard" adjuvant RT prescription. Hypofractionated regimes such as 42.5 Gy in 16 daily fractions or 40 Gy in 15 daily fractions following breast-conserving surgery have proven to be equally effective and achieve similar or better cosmetic and normal tissue outcomes for both invasive and in situ diseases and when treating the regional nodes. Hypofractionation is more convenient for patients and less costly. However, certain patients at higher risk of RT late effects may benefit from a less intense, even more extended fractionation schedule. This review describes the indications for whole breast hypofractionated adjuvant RT for patients with breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery and proposes that hypofractionation should be the new "standard" for adjuvant breast cancer RT.
Project description:Hypofractionated whole breast irradiation (HF-WBI) has been proved effective and safe and even better for late or acute radiation toxicity for early breast cancer. Moreover, it improves patient convenience, quality of life and is expected to be advantageous in the medical care system by reducing overall cost. In this review, we examined key randomized trials of HF-WBI, focusing on adequate patient selection as suggested by the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) guideline and the radiobiologic aspects of HF-WBI in relation to its adoption into clinical settings. Further investigation to identify the current practice pattern or cost effectiveness is warranted under the national health insurance service system in Korea.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Fatigue is one of the most common and distressing side-effects of breast cancer radiotherapy. According to current guidelines, accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) may be considered as an alternative treatment option for women with early-stage low-risk breast cancer. One method for APBI is single-dose intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) applied directly to the tumor bed during breast conserving surgery (BCS). The COSMOPOLITAN trial therefore aims to analyze the intensity of fatigue following single-shot IORT with electrons (IOERT) compared to conventional hypofractionated whole breast irradiation (WBI) in low risk early breast cancer patients. METHODS:This trial is conducted as a multicenter, prospective, randomized, two-arm phase II study comparing the intensity of fatigue in early-stage breast cancer (cT1cN0cM0, tumor size <?2,5?cm, ER pos. Her2neu neg., age?>?50?years) treated either with WBI or APBI after BCS. Secondary outcomes investigated are tumor control, overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), acute and chronic toxicity, quality of life (QoL) and cosmesis. A total of 202 patients will be randomized into two arms: Patients in arm A will receive WBI (40.05?Gy, 15 fractions) after surgical resection, while patients in arm B will receive IOERT (21?Gy to the 90%-isodose) during BCS. Fatigue will be assessed 12?weeks post surgery with the help of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Fatigue Scale. DISCUSSION:The present trial aims to evaluate treatment response to compare single-shot intraoperative electron APBI to conventional WBI following BCS in early-stage low risk breast cancer patients. Fatigue is selected as the primary, patient-reported endpoint due its major clinical relevance. TRIAL REGISTRATION:The study is prospectively registered on February 12th, 2019: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03838419. "Intraoperative Electron Radiotherapy for Low-risk Early Breast Cancer (COSMOPOLITAN)". STUDY STATUS:Ongoing study. Start of recruitment was December 2019.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Hypofractionated radiotherapy is the current standard for adjuvant radiotherapy across many centres. Further hypofractionation may be possible but remains to be investigated in non-Caucasian populations with more advanced disease, with a higher proportion of patients requiring mastectomy as well as tumour bed boost. We are reporting the design of randomized controlled trial testing the hypothesis that a 1-week (5 fractions) regimen of radiotherapy will be non-inferior to a standard 3-week (15 fractions) schedule. METHODS:We describe a multicentre, randomized controlled trial recruiting patients at large academic centres across India. Patients without distant metastases who merit adjuvant radiotherapy will be eligible for inclusion in the study. Patients in the control arm will receive adjuvant radiotherapy to the breast or chest wall (with/without regional nodes) to a dose of 40?Gy/15 fractions/3?weeks, while those in the experimental arm will receive a dose of 26?Gy/5 fractions/1?week (to the same volume). The use of a simultaneous integrated boost (dose of 8?Gy and 6?Gy, respectively) is allowed in patients who have undergone breast conservation. A sample size of 2100 patients provides an 80% power to detect a non-inferiority of 3% in the 5-year locoregional recurrence rate with a one-sided type I error of 2.5%, assuming that the locoregional recurrence rate in the control arm is 5% at 5?years (corresponding to a hazard ratio of 1.63). Patients will be recruited over a period of 5?years and followed up for a further 5?years thereafter. DISCUSSION:If a five-fraction regimen of breast cancer is proven to be non-inferior, this will result in a significant improvement in the access to radiotherapy, as well as reduced costs of treatment. The trial gives an opportunity to standardize and quality-assure radiotherapy practices across the nation at the same time. Along with the results of the FAST-Forward trial, the safety of this intervention in advanced node-positive disease requiring regional nodal radiation will be established. TRIAL REGISTRATION:The trial has been registered at the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) vide registration number: CTRI/2018/12/016816 (December 31, 2018) as well as the ClinicalTrial.gov website at NCT03788213 (December 28, 2018).
Project description:PurposeModerate hypofractionated radiotherapy is the standard of care for all patients with breast cancer, irrespective of stage or prior treatments. While extreme hypofractionation is accepted for early-stage tumours, its application in irradiating locoregional lymph nodes remains controversial.Materials and methodsA prospective registry analysis from July 2020 to September 2023 included 276 patients with early-stage breast cancer treated with one-week ultra-hypofractionation (UHF) at 26 Gy in 5 fractions on the whole breast (58.3 %) or thoracic wall (41.7 %) and ipsilateral regional lymph nodes and simultaneous integrated boost (58.3 %). Primary endpoint was assessment of acute adverse events (AEs). Secondarily, onset of early-delayed toxicity was assessed. A minimum 6-month follow-up was required for assessing potential treatment-related early-delayed complications. Acute or late complications attributable to treatment were assessed at inclusion using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0 criteria.ResultsWith a median follow-up of 19 months (range 1-49 months), 159 (57.6 %) patients reported AEs, predominantly grade (G) 1 (n = 139, 50.4 %) and G2 (n = 20, 7.8 %). Skin acute toxicity was common (G1/2: 134, G3: 14), while breast oedema occurred in 10 patients (G1: 9, G2: 1), and 15.9 % reported breast pain (G1: 42, G2: 2). Ipsilateral arm oedema was observed in 1.8 % patients. For patients with a follow-up beyond 6 months (n = 213), 23.4 % patients reported G1/G2 skin AEs, 8.8 % had G1/G2 breast/chest wall oedema, and 8.9 % experienced arm lymphedema. There were no cases of brachial plexopathy or G3 toxicity in this group of patients.ConclusionsOne-week UHF adjuvant locoregional radiation is well-tolerated, displaying low-toxicity profiles comparable to other studies using similar irradiation schedules.
Project description:PurposesSeveral studies have shown that simultaneous integrated boost provides better dose homogeneity, improves the biologically effective dose-volume histogram and reduces treatment time compared to sequential boost in breast cancer.Patients and methodsWe conducted a systematic review of published trials evaluating simultaneous integrated boost in hypofractionated radiotherapy to analyze the results in terms of overall survival, local control, early and late side effects, and radiotherapy techniques used.ResultsUpon 9 articles, the prescribed dose to the whole breast varied from 40 to 46.8 Gy. The number of fractions varies from 15 to 20 fractions. The prescribed dose per fraction to the boost varied from 2.4 Gy per fraction to 3.4 Gy per fraction for a total boost dose from 48 to 52.8 Gy.ConclusionsSimultaneous integrated boost seems effective and safe when given hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation but needs to be validated in prospective trials.
Project description:Research over recent years has demonstrated that curative external-beam radiotherapy can be safely and efficaciously delivered with roughly half the number of treatments which was previously considered standard. We review the data supporting this change in practice, methods for implementation, as well as emerging future directions.
Project description:PurposeWe report results of a multicenter prospective single-arm phase II trial (ARO-2013-04, NCT01948726) of moderately accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) in patients with breast cancer receiving adjuvant radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery.MethodsThe eligibility criteria included unifocal breast cancer with an indication for adjuvant radiotherapy to the whole breast and boost radiotherapy to the tumor bed. The whole breast received a dose of 40?Gy and the tumor bed a total dose of 48?Gy in 16 fractions of 2.5 and 3?Gy, respectively. Radiotherapy could be given either as 3D conformal RT (3D-CRT) or as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). The study was designed as a prospective single-arm trial to evaluate the acute toxicity of the treatment regimen. The study hypothesis was that the frequency of acute skin reaction grade ?2 would be 20% or less.ResultsFrom November 2013 through July 2014, 149 patients were recruited from 12 participating centers. Six patients were excluded, leaving 143 patients for analysis. Eighty-four patients (58.7%) were treated with 3D-CRT and 59 (41.3%) with IMRT. Adherence to the treatment protocol was high. The rate of grade ?2 skin toxicity was 14.7% (95% confidence interval 9.8-21.4%). The most frequent grade 3 toxicity (11%) was hot flashes.ConclusionThis study demonstrated low toxicity of and high treatment adherence to hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy with SIB in a multicenter prospective trial, although the primary hypothesis was not met.
Project description:PurposeThe purpose of the study was to evaluate the toxicity, local control, overall and disease-free survival of elderly breast cancer (BC) patients treated with adjuvant once-weekly ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) either with intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) or 3D conformal RT (3DCRT).MethodsFrom July 2011 to July 2018, BC patients receiving 5.7 Gy once a week for 5 weeks to the whole breast after breast-conserving surgery were considered for the study. Inclusion criteria were: T1-T3 invasive BC, no or limited axillary involvement, age ≥ 65 years or women with commuting difficulties or disabling diseases.ResultsA total of 271 patients were included in the study. Median age was 76 (46-86) years. Most of BC were T1 (77%), while the remaining were T2 (22.2%) and T3 (0.4%). Axillary status was negative in 68.3% of the patients. The only severe acute toxicity (G3) at the end of RT was erythema (0.4%), registered in the 3DCRT group; no G3 edema or epitheliolysis was recorded. With 18 months of median follow-up, severe early-late toxicity (G3) was reported in terms of fibrosis and breast retraction, both with an incidence of 1.4%, mostly in the 3DCRT group. Oncological outcomes at a median follow-up of 2.9 years reported 249/271 (91.9%) patients alive and free from any event and 5 (1.8%) isolated locoregional recurrences. At 3 years, disease-free survival and overall survival were 94.9% and 97.8%, respectively. Breast volume > 500 cm3 was reported as predictive for moderate-severe (≥ G2) acute toxicity.ConclusionsWeekly ultra-hypofractionated whole breast RT seems feasible and effective. Toxicity was mild, local control was acceptable, and overall survival was 97.8% at 3 years. Rates of severe toxicity were reduced with the IMRT technique.
Project description:Background and purposeFAST-Forward is a phase 3 clinical trial testing a 1-week course of whole breast radiotherapy against the UK standard 3-week regimen after primary surgery for early breast cancer. Two acute skin toxicity substudies were undertaken to test the safety of the test schedules with respect to early skin reactions.Material and methodsPatients were randomly allocated to 40Gy/15 fractions (F)/3-weeks, 27Gy/5F/1-week or 26Gy/5F/1-week. Acute breast skin reactions were graded using RTOG (first substudy) and CTCAE criteria v4.03 (second substudy) weekly during treatment and for 4weeks after treatment ended. Primary endpoint was the proportion of patients within each treatment group with grade ⩾3 toxicity (RTOG and CTCAE, respectively) at any time from the start of radiotherapy to 4weeks after completion.Results190 and 162 patients were recruited. In the first substudy, evaluable patients with grade 3 RTOG toxicity were: 40Gy/15F 6/44 (13.6%); 27Gy/5F 5/51 (9.8%); 26Gy/5F 3/52 (5.8%). In the second substudy, evaluable patients with grade 3 CTCAE toxicity were: 40Gy/15F 0/43; 27Gy/5F 1/41 (2.4%); 26Gy/5F 0/53.ConclusionsAcute breast skin reactions with two 1-week schedules of whole breast radiotherapy under test in FAST-Forward were mild.