Optimising radiation treatment decisions for patients who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy and mastectomy.
Whereas randomised clinical trials have established which patients might benefit from postmastectomy radiation therapy after upfront surgery, no such data exist for guiding decisions on who might benefit from postmastectomy radiation therapy after upfront chemotherapy. Insight must be drawn from non-randomised data to provide such guidance. Early data suggest that both extent of disease at presentation and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy predict the risk of locoregional recurrence, and can be used to tailor recommendations for postmastectomy radiation therapy. Randomised clinical trial data are needed to assess whether postmastectomy radiation therapy can be safely omitted in selected women with good response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. khoffman1@mdanderson.org
Karen E
KE
Hoffman
Elizabeth A
EA
Mittendorf
Thomas A
TA
Buchholz
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018579:Patient Selection; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome