Radiation treatment for breast cancer

Breast cancer was the first major malignancy demonstrated to be adequately treated with organ preservation. The impact of the randomized trials performed in the United States and Europe to investigate the effectiveness of radiation in securing local control in patients who had undergone lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer cannot be underestimated. Not only has this influenced the treatment of this very prevalent disease, it has also motivated investigators of malignancies of other sites to explore the now popular concept of organ preservation.

Moderate doses of radiation are extremely effective at controlling subclinical populations of cancer cells. Over the past two decades, a better understanding of the nuances of breast cancer histology that impact on local control and refinements in radiation-therapy techniques have maximized the likelihood of control with minimal consequences to normal tissue.

This parallels the refinement of surgical and pathologic techniques that are a necessary component of the procurement and analysis of the tumor to guide further therapy.

Further refinements in surgical technique, such as sentinel lymph node biopsy, are gaining in popularity and will further challenge practicing oncologists to refine their treatment approaches in order to deliver the greatest likelihood of tumor control with the least likelihood of morbidity.

Among all malignancies, breast cancer investigations stand as a paradigm of multimodality collaboration to advance knowledge and patient care.

Radiation therapy is offered to breast cancer patients to rid the body of any microscopic cancer cells that may remain near the area where the cancer was originally found. The usual course of therapy includes daily treatments five days a week for five to seven weeks. Each session generally lasts an hour or less.

Radiation therapy is a process that precisely sends high levels of radiation directly to the cancer cells. Radiation done after surgery can kill cancer cells that may not be seen during surgery. Radiation may also be done:

• prior to surgery to shrink the tumor.
  
• in combination with chemotherapy.
  
• as a palliative treatment (therapy that relieves symptoms, such as pain, but does not alter the course of the disease).
  

There are various ways to deliver radiation therapy. However, external radiation is the usual type that is used for treatment of breast cancer. Consider the following:

• external radiation (external beam therapy) - a treatment that precisely sends high levels of radiation directly to the cancer cells. The machine is controlled by the radiation therapist. Since radiation is used to kill cancer cells and to shrink tumors, special shields may be used to protect the tissue surrounding the treatment area. Radiation treatments are painless and usually last a few minutes.