Is There a Subset of Patients with Early Stage Invasive Breast Cancer for Whom Irradiation May Not Be Indicated After Conservative Surgery Alone?

Tamoxifen, radiation therapy, or both for prevention of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after lumpectomy in women with invasive breast cancers of one centimeter or less

PURPOSE

This trial was prompted by uncertainty about the need for breast irradiation after lumpectomy in node-negative women with invasive breast cancers of </= 1 cm, by speculation that tamoxifen (TAM) might be as or more effective than radiation therapy (XRT) in reducing the rate of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) in such women, and by the thesis that both modalities might be more effective than either alone.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

After lumpectomy, 1,009 women were randomly assigned to TAM (n = 336), XRT and placebo (n = 336), or XRT and TAM (n = 337). Rates of IBTR, distant recurrence, and contralateral breast cancer (CBC) were among the end points for analysis. Cumulative incidence of IBTR and of CBC was computed accounting for competing risks. Results with two-sided P values of.05 or less were statistically significant.

RESULTS

XRT and placebo resulted in a 49% lower hazard rate of IBTR than did TAM alone; XRT and TAM resulted in a 63% lower rate than did XRT and placebo. When compared with TAM alone, XRT plus TAM resulted in an 81% reduction in hazard rate of IBTR. Cumulative incidence of IBTR through 8 years was 16.5% with TAM, 9.3% with XRT and placebo, and 2.8% with XRT and TAM. XRT reduced IBTR below the level achieved with TAM alone, regardless of estrogen receptor (ER) status. Distant treatment failures were infrequent and not significantly different among the groups (P =.28). When TAM-treated women were compared with those who received XRT and placebo, there was a significant reduction in CBC (hazard ratio, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.21 to 0.95; P =.039). Survival in the three groups was 93%, 94%, and 93%, respectively (P =.93).

CONCLUSION

In women with tumors </= 1 cm, IBTR occurs with enough frequency after lumpectomy to justify considering XRT, regardless of tumor ER status, and TAM plus XRT when tumors are ER positive.

The Roles and Controversies of Radiation Therapy in Breast Conserving Therapy for Breast Cancer

Breast conserving therapy (BCT) is defined as a combination of conservative surgery for resection of the primary tumor, followed by radiation therapy (RT) for the eradication of residual microscopic disease in the breast. At NIH Consensus Development Conference in 1990, BCT was recognized as the preferred treatment for the majority of women with Stage I and II breast cancer. RT is a potent locoregional treament and its role in BCT in reducing local recurrence is already established. On the other hand, the influence of RT on survival outcome has not yet been closely demonstrated so far. RT appears to be useful as neoadjuvant therapy, and also as exclusive local treatment for patients achieving complete regression (CR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The other possible role of RT is to use it as an alternative to axillary dissection in patients with clinically uninvolved nodes. The question of the appropriateness of using RT in all BCT cases is raised. Since the subgroup of patients who would not deserve any benefit by RT has not yet identified, RT should be delivered as standard treatment following breast conserving surgery for early stage breast cancer.