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Results of treating stage iii carcinoma of the breast by primary radiation therapy
Author(s) -
Bruckman James E.,
Harris Jay R.,
Levene Martin B.,
Chaffey John T.,
Hellman Samuel
Publication year - 1979
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(197903)43:3<985::aid-cncr2820430330>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - medicine , radiation therapy , surgery , implant , biopsy , breast cancer , stage (stratigraphy) , chemotherapy , ductal carcinoma , carcinoma , breast carcinoma , cancer , radiology , paleontology , biology
One hundred sixteen patients with stage III carcinoma of the breast were treated by primary radiation therapy. The 5‐year actuarial survival and relapsefree survival were 25% and 22%, respectively. The 5‐year actuarial probability of local tumor control for the entire group was 64%. In patients undergoing an excisional biopsy and an interstitial implant of the primary tumor area, local control was 100%. In patients who had either an excisional biopsy or an implant, the 5‐year actuarial probability of local control was 77% and 76%, respectively. In contrast, in patients having neither an excisional biopsy nor an implant, local control was only 41%. In patients receiving a total dose of greater than 6000 rad, from external beam treatment or from external beam plus an interstitial implant, the local control was 78% compared to 39% in patients receiving a total dose of less than 6000 rad. Forty‐one patients received some form of adjuvant therapy. Both local control and relapse‐free survival were improved in patients receiving chemotherapy as the sole adjuvant and in patients receiving chemotherapy combined with an endocrine ablative procedure. However, patients treated with only an endocrine ablative procedure had no improvement in survival nor in local control. These results indicate that primary radiation therapy can provide local control in a high proportion of patients with stage III carcinoma of the breast and suggest that chemotherapy is effective in improving both local control and survival in these patients. Cancer 43:985–993, 1979.