A lower total dose of radiotherapy delivered in fewer but larger doses is as safe in the long term as breast cancer radiotherapy courses giving multiple small doses, according to the final results of a 10-year study.
A lower total dose of radiotherapy delivered in fewer but larger doses is as safe in the long term as breast cancer radiotherapy courses giving multiple small doses, according to the final results of a 10-year study.
The findings show that five larger radiotherapy doses after surgery – once-a-week sessions for five weeks instead of daily radiotherapy over the same time, totalling 25 doses – cause similarly low rates of side-effects in women with early-stage breast cancer in the long run.
Fewer treatment sessions particularly benefit patients at low risk of relapse who cannot tolerate daily radiation over long periods of time because of frailty or other chronic conditions. The 10-year study offers reassurance to these women over the long-term safety of the approach.
The 10-year results of the FAST trial, led by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and funded by Cancer Research UK, are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Read more at Institute of Cancer Research
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