Spanish investigators demonstrated the feasibility of high-dose breast brachytherapy as the sole treatment for selected breast cancer patients. The study included 36 patients who had local recurrence after breast-conserving therapy and five postmenopausal women with primary breast tumors. At a median follow up of 71 months, none of the patients with primary tumors had a recurrence. Of the patients who presented with locally recurrent disease, three had new local recurrences, six had regional recurrences, and six had distant metastasis.
Kuske reported toxicity data from an ongoing Radiation Therapy Oncology Group trial of APBI in 100 women with small, invasive, non-lobular tumors. At a median follow-up of 3.2 years, toxicity consisted of breast erythema in 48 patients, breast edema in 36, breast tenderness in 25, breast pain in 23, and infection in 12. Grade 3-4 toxicity occurred in 5% of patients during APBI, 10% at any follow-up, and 4% at last follow-up. Results did not differ between patients who received high-dose or low-dose APBI.
![]() |
||||
|
Oxford University Press Privacy Policy and Legal Statement |