Briefer Radiotherapy improves breast cancer patients life, study shows

Women with early stage of breast cancer are usually seen undergoing a shorter and more powerful course of radiation therapy, according to the study.

Shaitelman said the study findings are particularly important for busy mothers, working inside or outside the home and juggling a number of priorities. As such, those who spend time undergoing therapy have more time to focus on things such as family.

The study now published in JAMA oncology is also the first analysis that comprehensively compares quality of life effects from the two regimens of radiation therapies for breast cancer. Her group’s study is the first in-depth research that compares quality of life between both types of radiation treatment – short-term and high-intensity, and longer-term and low-intensity. The method is known as conventionally fractionated whole breast irradiation.

Nut, the new shorter and higher dose approach, known as hypofractionated whole breast cancer irradiation, has been around now for about a decade in the US, thanks to advancements made in technology. At six month follow up, toxicities were generally similar between the HF-WBI and CF-WBI patients, although the HF-WBI patients were noted to have less fatigue, and better ability to care for their family, compared to those treated with CF-WBI. Joseph is a dedicated writer, sports lover and avid reader who covers all different topics, ranging from space exploration to his personal favorite science, microbiology.

Dr. Benjamin Smith is the study’s corresponding author and an associate professor of radiation oncology at MD Anderson. These women all had stage 0 to stage 2 breast cancer and received lumpectomies.

The doctors behind this current study warn that, in the US, just about one third of the patients suffering from breast cancer that should receive hypofractioned whole breast irradiation actually do. “Yet our radiation oncology community has been slow to adopt the practice”. “This study fills in a missing piece in the literature”, he said in the news release.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer treatment. He added that he was no longer regarding the shorter course treatment as just another option for the patients, but is the preferred starting point for a dialogue with the patients whether they were in need of whole breast radiation.

With this, the authors concluded that hypofractionation has been proven not only to be a more convenient option than CF, but also to be a radiation therapy choice that can cause lesser discomfort to patients.