ASTRO 2019: Patients satisfied with partial breast radiation therapy after lumpectomy
Patients who undergo partial breast radiation therapy after a lumpectomy are as satisfied with the outcome as those who undergo whole breast radiation therapy, according to findings presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
“Partial breast radiation is a good choice,” lead author Julia White, MD, a professor of radiation oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in a prepared statement. “That’s what I’m going to say to certain subsets of my patients.”
White et al. had previously determined that partial breast radiation therapy—considered a much more appealing treatment option by many patients—was just slightly less effective than whole breast radiation therapy. Their next goal was to examine cosmetic outcomes.
The research involved 900 early-stage breast cancer patients. While 477 received partial breast radiation therapy, the other 423 received whole breast radiation therapy. The participants were asked to rate the appearance of the treated breast immediately after the treatment, one year after treatment and three years after treatment. A team of blinded physicians also compared photos of the patients.
Overall, White said in the same statement, “there was an equivalent cosmetic outcome from the patients' perspective.” Three years following treatment, 81% of patients said they were satisfied after partial breast radiation therapy, while 86% said they were satisfied after whole breast radiation therapy. After partial breast radiation therapy, meanwhile, 14% of patients were “somewhat satisfied” and 2% were “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.” After whole breast radiation therapy, those numbers were 11% and 3%, respectively. For both treatment options, less than 1% of patients were “totally dissatisfied.”
When physicians viewed digital photos of the outcomes, not knowing which treatment a patient had received, they determined that the outcomes were equivalent. The treating physicians also rated the cosmetic outcomes, finding them equivalent after one year. Three years after treatment, however, treating physicians thought the outcomes associated with partial breast radiation therapy were worse than those associated with whole breast radiation therapy.
“If a patient chooses breast conservation for her treatment, she generally wants the breast to feel and look as normal as possible,” White said in the statement. “It is difficult to have to say to a patient that she can have a shorter, more convenient treatment but will have to accept a cosmetic outcome that is not as nice as she would get with a longer treatment. We were relieved to find out the cosmetic outcomes are equivalent.”
The 2019 ASTRO annual meeting is Sept. 15-18 in Chicago.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.