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Postoperative radiation therapy
Author(s) -
Raventos A.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1651::aid-cncr2820280647>3.0.co;2-p
Subject(s) - medicine , radiation therapy , lymph node , breast cancer , lymph node metastasis , surgery , cancer , survival rate , sample size determination , radiology , metastasis , statistics , mathematics
Although it has not been proved that routine postoperative irradiation increases the rate of survival in patients with breast cancer, it is fairly convincing that it does decrease local recurrences. Statistical considerations indicate that a small increment in survival could escape detection in controlled clinical trials of feasible sample size. Reports of large series, uncontrolled, show a correlation—quite possibly fortuitous—between increasing use of postoperative irradiation and improving survival. It is suggested that the use of postoperative radiation therapy is defensible in the woman with demonstrated lymph node metastasis, or whose relevant lymph node status has not been histologically evaluated.