For Release: October 25, 1998
Contact: Keri J. Sperry, (703) 295-6775
Michael J. Bernstein (703) 648-8910, [email protected]
Lumpectomy, Radiation Therapy Still Under-Used For Breast Cancer Patients, Study Reports
Breast-conserving treatment for early-stage breast cancer patients is still being under-used, but the number of patients receiving lumpectomy followed by radiation is increasing nationwide, a new study reveals.
This was the conclusion reported at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) held in Phoenix, AZ October 25-29. The study was conducted by Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, in New York, NY.
The purpose of the study was to examine the patterns of care in the United States using the well-known Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) tumor registry database of the National Cancer Institute.
"There has been increasing use of breast-conserving treatment in recent years," says lead study author, John Rescigno, M.D., "but, unfortunately, only 36 percent of the early-stage, invasive breast cancer patients had breast-conserving surgery from 1988-1994. More than 70 percent of early-stage are candidates for lumpectomy and radiation rather than mastectomy."
Dr. Rescigno, a radiation oncologist at Columbia-Presbyterian, looked at nearly 80,000 breast cancer patients and found that patients with larger tumors or spread of the cancer to the lymph nodes are half as likely as others to have breast-conserving treatment.
Dr. Rescigno also notes that while studies have shown that radiation therapy is appropriate for nearly all-invasive breast cancer patients who have had lumpectomy, approximately three-fourths of patients have radiation. Further, the SEER data review shows that older women and African-American women are less likely to have post-lumpectomy radiotherapy.
He also notes that a survival benefit was seen with radiotherapy for women who did not have their axillary lymph nodes removed, although Dr. Rescigno warns that the retrospective nature of the study precluded drawing firm conclusions. "Just as we must be careful not to over-treat patients with early breast cancer," he adds, "we must also avoid under-treatment, which could negatively affect the patient."
The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 5,000 members. As a leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the society's goals are to advance the scientific base of radiation therapy and to extend the benefits of radiation therapy to those with cancer. To receive copies of the abstracts contact Keri J. Sperry (703) 295-6775.
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