Sentinel-Node-Driven Personalized Radiation Techniques Ranging from Partial Breast Irradiation to Regional Nodal Radiation after Breast-Conserving Surgery

Abstract

Background: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by whole breast irradiation (WBI) has become the standard of care for treating patients with early-stage breast cancer. Recently, various radiation techniques followed by BCS have been reported. We have been investigating "personalized radiotherapy after BCS" ranging from accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) to WBI with regional nodal irradiation (RNI) based on the axillary node status. In this study, we compared different cohorts that received personalized radiotherapy. Method: Of 317 consecutive patients who underwent BCS followed by radiotherapy since November 2007, 187 who received APBI and 122 who received WBI were analyzed. Results: The local-only recurrence rate was 1.1% in the APBI group and 3.3% in the WBI group, and the regional-only recurrence rate was 1.1% for APBI and 0.8% for WBI. Conclusions: The clinical efficacy of APBI for local control after BCS was comparable to that of WBI ± RNI. Although this study was based on a small number of patients with a short follow-up period, the feasibility of breast-conserving therapy using multicatheter brachytherapy to achieve acceptable clinical outcomes was demonstrated.