Fewer doses of
radiotherapy at increased concentrations could be as safe
and effective as a longer course of treatment for breast
cancer patients, researchers said this week.
Women having
radiotherapy, which is given to reduce the risk of cancer
returning after surgery, normally receive 25 doses over five
weeks. But a 10-year trial of a shorter course of 13
larger doses showed it worked just as well as the
standard treatment and without an increase in side
effects.
"We think it
should be possible to give fewer but higher daily doses
of radiotherapy to the breast to prevent cancer from
returning, without harming the patient's healthy
tissues," said professor John Yarnold of the Institute
of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation
Trust.
Yarnold and his
team, who reported their findings in the journal Lancet
Oncology, compared the shorter dose of
radiotherapy with the standard treatment on 1,410 women who
had radiotherapy following surgery. After monitoring
their health for 10 years, they found the shorter
course was as good as the extended treatment.
But the
researchers added they will have to wait for the results of
other trials before they can confirm that the
concentrated therapy is more effective in the long
term.
The shorter
treatment would be more convenient and simpler for patients
and could also cut health care costs for administering the
treatment.
"If these results
are confirmed in the larger follow-up studies, it
could mean better outcomes with less hospital visits for
patients and therefore an improvement in their quality
of life," said Lesley Walker of the charity Cancer
Research UK.
Breast cancer is
one of the most common cancers in women. More than a
million cases occur worldwide each year, according to the
International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon,
France.
Most cases
develop in women over 50 years old, but a small percentage
occurs in younger women.
Breast cancer is
treated with surgery and radiotherapy, which kills
cancer cells left in the breast after the tumor has been
removed, chemotherapy and hormone treatment, or a
combination of them, depending on the cancer and stage
of the illness.
Factors which can
increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer
include having a mother or close relative with the disease,
inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, an
early puberty, late menopause, and not having any
children. Some studies also have shown that lesbians
are at a higher risk of breast cancer than their
heterosexual peers. (Reuters)