Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Comparison of Adjuvant Radiation Therapy Alone Versus Radiation Therapy and Endocrine Therapy in Elderly Women With Early-Stage, Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer Treated With Breast-Conserving Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Randomized data examining adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) alone in elderly women with low-risk, hormone receptor-positive (HR(+)) breast cancer is lacking. We investigated the outcomes for elderly women treated with adjuvant RT alone versus RT plus endocrine therapy (ET) after breast-conserving surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We queried our institutional breast cancer database for the following patients: age > 65 years, stage T1-T2N0, HR(+), and treatment with breast-conserving surgery, including adjuvant RT. The χ(2) analysis identified significant baseline differences between the groups. Cox proportional hazard methods identified predictors of endpoints on multivariate analysis. Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival were compared using the log-rank test.

RESULTS: A total of 504 patients were identified, 311 had undergone RT plus ET (62%) and 193, RT alone (38%). The median follow-up time was 88 months. The RT-alone group versus RT plus ET group had different median age (72 vs.71 years, P < .001), different median tumor size (1 vs. 1.3 cm, P < .001), lower grade (40% vs. 29%, P = .05), and fewer close or positive margins (11% vs. 19%, P = .01). The adherence rate to prescribed ET was 70%. Tumor size predicted an increased risk of distant metastasis (DM) (hazard ratio, 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-3.13) and worse disease-free survival (DFS) (hazard ratio, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.22-2.86). ET nonadherence versus adherence predicted for risk of DM (hazard ratio, 5.03; 95% CI, 1.98-12.66) and DFS (HR, 4.24; 95% CI, 1.9-10.3). Of the women with DM, 83.8% had tumors > 1 cm in size.

CONCLUSION: ET nonadherence and tumor size > 1 cm predicted an increased risk of DM and worse DFS, favoring the addition of ET in this group. However, RT alone for women with tumors less than or equal to 1 cm may be appropriate.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

Related Resources

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app