title: [Exclusive radiotherapy and brachytherapy in the treatment of breast cancer].
abstract: Exclusive radiotherapy is one of the modalities of conservative treatment for breast cancer. It is designed to destroy the tumour without surgery and to retain a treated breast comparable to the contralateral breast. The efficacy of radiotherapy, alone or in combination with brachytherapy, expressed in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival, has been documented by a large number of retrospective studies. The results published, especially by French teams, pioneers in this field, are comparable to the results reported for other conservative and radical techniques. The quality of the cosmetic results is inversely proportional to the dose delivered and decreases with the observation time. Although the cosmetic role of radiotherapy is modest, its therapeutic role remains essential in the case of initially or subsequently inoperable lesions. The current development of primary chemotherapy and rehabilitation techniques have limited the indications for exclusive radiotherapy plus or minus brachytherapy, but have paradoxically led to a renewed interest in this technique.
authors.affiliation: Clinique Sainte-Catherine, Chemin du Lavarin, Avignon.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serin
mesh_terms: D001918:Brachytherapy; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage
vernacular_title: La radiothérapie exclusive et la curiethérapie dans le traitement du cancer du sein.