In a nutshell
This study aimed to investigate the oncological effectiveness of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) and whole breast irradiation (WBI) for patients with early breast cancer (BC).
This study concluded that there was a high oncological effectiveness for both groups of patients.
Some background
Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) is an intensive radiation treatment given during surgery. IORT allows direct radiation to the target area and does not damage surrounding normal tissue. Whole-breast irradiation (WBI) therapy involves radiation treatment to the whole breast.
Both IORT and WBI are effective for early breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS; removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue, but the breast remains). However, it is unknown whether IORT or WBI leads to a better prognosis for patients with early BC.
Methods & findings
This study involved analyzing data from 38 previous studies with 30,225 patients with early BC. Patients were treated with BCS and either IORT or WBI.
The average 5-year local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rate at 5 years was 96.3% for the IORT group compared to 98% for the WBI group. WBI was associated with a 2.36 times higher odds for a better LRFS compared to IORT.
The average distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rate at 5 years was 96.6% for the IORT group compared to 94.9% for the WBI group. This difference was not found statistically significant. The average overall survival (OS) rate at 5 years was 94.1% for the IORT group compared to 94.9% for the WBI group. This difference was not found statistically significant.
The bottom line
This study concluded that despite the high 5-year oncological efficacy in both groups, WBI is associated with better odds for a higher local-recurrence-free survival compared to IORT.
The fine print
Most studies included in this analysis were based on medical records. Information might have been incomplete.
Published By :
Frontiers in oncology
Date :
Jan 04, 2022
