Long-term results of hypofractionation with concomitant boost in patients with early breast cancer: A prospective study

Aim To report the long-term local control and survival of patients with early breast cancer who had hypofractionated whole breast irradiation with concomitant boost (Hypo-CB). Methods and materials Between October 2009 and June 2010, 73 patients with early breast cancer (T1-3N0-1M0) who underwent breast conserving surgery were enrolled into the study. Thirty-six of these participants received 50 Gy of conventional irradiation in 25 fractions over 5 weeks to the whole breast with a sequential boost to the tumor bed with 10–16 Gy in 5–8 fractions (Conv-SEQ). The other 37 participants received a hypofractionated dose of 43.2 Gy in 16 fractions with an additional daily concomitant boost (CB) of 0.6 Gy over 3 weeks (Hypo-CB). Results At a median follow-up time of 123 months, ipsilateral local recurrence (ILR) was found in 3 participants, 1 of whom was in the hypofractionated group. All 3 ILR were true local recurrence (TR). There were no significant differences in the 10-year disease free survival (DFS) and 10-year overall survival rates (OS) between the conventional and hypofractionated groups (93.9% vs . 94.4%, p = 0.96 and 91.9% vs . 91.6%, p = 0.792, respectively). Conclusion This study showed that the effectiveness, DFS and OS were comparable between hypofractionated whole breast irradiation with a CB and the conventional irradiation with a sequential boost.