Preliminary results of accelerated partial breast irradiation in the combination organ-saving treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer

Objective: to develop and introduce an accelerated partial breast irradiation procedure in patients with early-stage breast cancer after organ-saving operations using three-dimensional conformal teleradiotherapy (3D CRT) and to assess the preliminary results of treat- ment.Subjects and methods: the trial enrolled 48 patients with verified T1-2N0-1micM0 stage breast cancer who received organ-saving treatment in the N.N. Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, in 2008–2012. The median age of the patients was 63 years. All the patients underwent organ-saving operations with subsequent 3D CRT applied to the resected tumor bed with margins. Radiotherapy with a dose of 2.5 Gy was performed twice daily; the daily dose was 5 Gy; the course dose was 40 Gy. Indications for accelerated partial irradiation of the tumor bed were listed; the data of randomized trials were given.Results. The median follow-up was 27 months; locoregional recurrences or distant metastases were found in no patients. Late radia- tion skin and soft tissue injuries were seen in no cases. All the patients were ascertained to have early-stage grade I radiation cutane- ous injuries according to the RTOG-EORTC classification. Excellent, good, fair, and poor cosmetic results were obtained in 12 (25 %), 34 (71 %), 2 (4 %), and 0 patients, respectively.Conclusion. The developed accelerated partial breast irradiation procedure in patients with early-stage breast cancer after organ- saving operations at the median follow-up of 27 months showed good results, such as no local recurrences or distant metastases. Excel- lent and good cosmetic results were noted in 96 % of the patients.