radiation therapy bc patients
Post-Lumpectomy Patients May Benefit From Semiannual Mammograms, Study Suggests
Semiannual mammographic surveillance (every six months) of women who receive post-breast conservation therapy (or “lumpectomy”) for the treatment of breast cancer allows physicians to detect recurrences at an earlier stage, potentially saving the lives of some women, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.
A lumpectomy is the standard of care for treating women with early stage breast cancer. It is proven to be just as effective as a mastectomy, but much less invasive. “Unfortunately, neither approach cures all women,” said the authors of the study.
About 10-20 percent of women will go on to develop a recurrence of the first tumor or a new second primary cancer after a lumpectomy. “Those with a recurrence or a new second primary cancer have up to a 300 percent increased risk of dying from it. Thus, adequate surveillance for recurrence through mammography and clinical exam is important,” said the authors. However, most institutions monitor these women yearly and this may be too conservative because cancer organizations also currently recommend screening low-risk women from the general population every year.
“Our study, performed at the University of California, San Francisco, included 7,140 exams that were compliant with our semiannual protocol and 1,065 that were considered to represent annual follow-up. Cancers identified at semiannual surveillance were less advanced than those identified during annual surveillance. Invasive cancers identified at semiannual surveillance also tended to be smaller and lymph-node negative,” said the authors.
“Our study is the first to provide hard evidence that there may be a benefit to semiannual screening of post-lumpectomy patients. Semiannual surveillance detects recurrences at an earlier stage, when the tumor is more likely smaller and has yet to spread to the adjacent lymph nodes, which can increase ones chance of survival,” said the authors.
This study will be presented on Tuesday, May 4, at 2:50 p.m. Pacific Time. For a copy of the abstract or to schedule an interview with one of the study authors, please contact Heather Curry via E-MAIL at
hcurry@acr-arrs.org.
About ARRS
The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) was founded in 1900 and is the oldest radiology society in the United States. Its monthly journal, the American Journal of Roentgenology, began publication in 1906. Radiologists from all over the world attend the ARRS annual meeting to participate in instructional courses, scientific paper presentations and scientific and commercial exhibits related to the field of radiology. The Society is named after the first Nobel Laureate in Physics, Wilhelm Röentgen, who discovered the x-ray in 1895.
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