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Cancer Study Backs Shortened Radiation

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The New York Times

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

Three weeks of radiation treatment work just as well as the usual course of five weeks or more for women with early-stage breast cancers, Canadian researchers have reported, after monitoring a large group of patients for 12 years.

The results, presented Monday at a conference in Boston, provide some of the strongest evidence yet that radiation schedules can safely be shortened to make life easier for patients and to let care centers reduce their waiting lists and treat more women without buying more machines.

Experts say the findings, from a respected study, could change the standard of care in the United States. The typical schedule now involves five to seven weeks of daily treatments, and most women would welcome a chance to get it over with faster - especially those who work, have small children or live far from their treatment center.

The results applied only to women with early cancers, which were removed by lumpectomy and had not spread to lymph nodes.

The study included 1,234 women who started treatment at one of eight hospitals from 1993 to 1996. Half of the women received the standard regimen of 25 treatments in 35 days.

The other half had 16 treatments in 22 days. The shorter course used slightly higher daily doses of radiation, but the total cumulative dose was slightly lower.

Timothy Whelan, the lead author, is director of cancer research at the Juravinski Cancer Center in Hamilton, Ontario.

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