BOSTON, September 27, 2016 -- A supplemental "boost" of radiation improves local control and provides an incremental benefit in decreasing breast cancer recurrence for patients with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) who receive whole breast radiation therapy radiation (WBRT) following lumpectomy, according to research presented today at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Researchers concluded that use of a radiation boost should be considered in DCIS patients who have life expectancies of 10 or more years following breast-conserving surgery and WBRT.

DCIS patients undergoing breast conservation therapy typically receive a lumpectomy to remove the tumor, followed by WBRT to eliminate any residual cancerous cells within the breast. Following WBRT, many patient receive an additional boost of radiation of four-to-eight fractions to the surgical bed, which is the region at the highest risk for recurrence. While multiple clinical trials have demonstrated a modest but statistically significant reduction in ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) from a radiation boost after WBRT for invasive breast cancer, there are, to date, no published phase III studies examining radiation boost for DCIS.

Ten academic institutions from the United States, Canada and France provided de-identified patient level data for 4,131 cases of DCIS, collaborating to analyze the benefit of the DCIS boost by assembling the largest cohort of patients with DCIS treated with or without boost to date. Eligible patients included those with pure DCIS (i.e., no micro-invasion) who received WBRT with or without radiation boost and reached a minimum of five years follow-up. Eligible patients received either electron or photo radiation boost, and the median boost dose was 14 Gy. Records documenting patients receiving a brachytherapy boost, those having an unknown boost status or those receiving partial breast radiation were not included in the analyses. Among the 4,131 cases included in this analysis, 2,661 patients received a radiation boost, and 1,470 did not. Use of radiation boost was more common for patients with positive margins following breast-conserving surgery, those with unknown estrogen receptor (ER) status and individuals with the presence of necrosis documented on their pathology report. Median follow-up for all study participants was nine years.
DCIS patients who received a radiation boost following WBRT experienced a reduction in local recurrence. The IBTR-free survival for boost vs. no boost, respectively, was 97.1 percent vs. 96.3 percent at five years, 94.1 vs. 92.5 percent at ten years, and 91.6 vs. 88.0 percent at 15 years following treatment, with these differences achieving statistical significance (p = 0.013).

Rad Oncology Homepage