title: Accelerated hypofractionated breast radiotherapy: FAQs (frequently asked questions) and facts.
abstract: The demand for breast cancer care has increased as cancer treatment innovations have proliferated. Adjuvant radiotherapy to the breast is considered to be part of the standard treatment in breast cancer. The role of radiotherapy in terms of reducing loco-regional recurrence and increased survival after conservative surgery, and also after a mastectomy in selected cases, has been previously shown in several randomized trials. Patterns of radiotherapy commonly used for breast cancer comprise a period of approximately five weeks, frequently with the addition of an additional 1-1.5 weeks of a radiation boost to the primary tumour area. In last years, there has been a renewed interest in hypofractionated and accelerated radiotherapy schedules that reduce the overall treatment time to barely three weeks, leading to an improvement in quality of life for patients and also optimizing workload of radiation oncology departments. However, despite the existing evidence supporting the use of hypofractionated treatment regimens, their widespread is still far from complete. Many questions have generated resistance among clinical oncologists for their regular use. The aim of this review is to answer those questions that may arise with the use of moderate hypofractionation in breast cancer.
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: angel.monteroluis@gmail.com.
authors: Angel
authors: A
authors: Montero
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Xavier
authors: X
authors: Sanz
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Raul
authors: R
authors: Hernanz
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Dolores
authors: D
authors: Cabrera
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Meritxell
authors: M
authors: Arenas
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Eloisa
authors: E
authors: Bayo
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Ferran
authors: F
authors: Moreno
authors: Radiation Oncology Department, University Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Manel
authors: M
authors: Algara
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods
keywords: Accelerated treatment; Altered fractionation; Breast cancer; Hypofractionation; Radiation therapy