Radiation therapy in breast cancer patients over 75 years of age

This study analysed if using radiation therapy after mastectomy increased the survival rates of patients with breast cancer over the age of 75 which had not spread to the lymph nodes.

The authors found that overall, there was increased survival when radiation therapy was used in patients over 75 with breast cancer that had not spread to the lymph nodes.

Breast cancer treatment can have many negative effects on the patient. There are some cases in which extra treatment may be harmful to the patient, while not adding any survival benefit. This is especially important in patients of advanced age. It is important to determine if additional treatment such as radiation therapy is required for treatment of individual cancers and to avoid over-treatment.

This study consisted of 635 patients over the age of 75 who had breast cancer. These women all had a mastectomy following their diagnosis. They compared the women who underwent radiation therapy after their mastectomy, and those who did not. They study looked at what percentage of partients survived to 5-years after surgery.

It was found that 64.2% of patients who underwent radiation therapy survived to 5 years after treatment, while only 44.8% of those who did not have radiation therapy survived to 5 years. Overall, older patients were less likely to undergo radiation therapy.

The study concluded that radiation therapy in breast cancer patients over the age of 75 is beneficial to survival overall.

The authors found that as the patients got older, radiation therapy was used less frequently. This could have affected the results to make it seem like radiation therapy was worse or better than it actually is. The data analysed was old and limited, which may have affected results.

Patients should discuss treatment options with their oncologist and decide if radiation therapy is suited to them.