Rare Breast Cancer Treated with Radiation May Lower Recurrence Rate

Patients with a rare type of breast cancer may benefit from radiation therapy in addition to surgery to prevent recurrence, according to recent research.

Phyllodes tumors are rare tumors that develop in the connective tissue of the breast, in contrast to more common carcinomas, which develop in the ducts or lobules of the breast. Most patients are treated for phyllodes tumors with either a lumpectomy or mastectomy, with only a small portion of patients receiving radiation therapy. Traditionally, adjuvant radiation therapy is recommended for cancer patients with local recurrence risks of 15% or greater, but the benefit of adjuvant radiation therapy has not been extensively studied for phyllodes tumors because they are so rare.

Researchers from the division of radiation oncology, department of medical physics, and department of general and oncologic surgery at City of Hope [U.S.] National Medical Center (Duarte, CA, USA) tried to determine the local recurrence rates of phyllodes tumors based on tumor size and the type of surgery performed, and whether adjuvant radiation therapy should be considered as a treatment for some phyllodes tumor patients to reduce their local recurrence rate.

"Typically, these tumors are treated well by surgery alone. However, local recurrences are not uncommon,” commented Richard Pezner, M.D., lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist at City of Hope National Medical Center. The study's findings were reported in the July 2008, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.

The study investigators reviewed records of 478 patients with malignant phyllodes tumors who were treated between March 1964 and August 2005. The records came from the IMPAC U.S. National Oncology Database, which consists of tumor registries from 130 hospitals.

The researchers found that the risk of local recurrence for phyllodes tumors was related to tumor size and the type of surgery received. They determined that adjuvant radiation therapy should be evaluated for phyllodes tumor patients who received lumpectomies for tumors at least 2 cm in size or a mastectomy for tumors at least 10 cm in size to reduce the risk of recurrence.

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City of Hope National Medical Center