Study Confirms Radiation Boosts Breast Cancer Survival

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http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/co...r_Survival.asp

ABSTRACT

Summary: A new analysis of dozens of breast cancer studies shows that adding radiation to breast cancer treatment doesn't just lower a woman's risk of having a relapse, it also improves survival. The findings were published in The Lancet.

Why it's important: Radiation is standard treatment after breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) and is recommended after mastectomy for women with large tumors or whose cancer has spread to many lymph nodes. But many women skip radiation treatment. This study helps explain why they shouldn't.

"These data help strengthen the argument that there is a substantial benefit to radiotherapy [after lumpectomy] and that it should be a rare patient with a very low risk of recurrence or a very short expected life span for whom it should be eliminated," said Christy Russell, MD, chair of the American Cancer Society's Breast Cancer Advisory Group and co-director of the University of Southern California Norris Breast Center. She was not involved in the research.

The study also helps doctors better understand which mastectomy patients could most benefit from radiation, she added.