Dr Schäfer added: "More and more women are surviving breast cancer for longer and longer, so we need to be sure that treatments do not detract from their quality of life in the long term.

"Research like this is vital because it allows us to offer treatment choices. For a variety of reasons patients may find it difficult to manage a treatment schedule that lasts up to six weeks. They may have to travel a long way to reach hospital, or they may wish to return to work as soon as possible, so they might prefer a treatment that can be carried out in a week or less."


The researchers plan a ten-year follow-up of women in the trial to see if quality of life remains good and to see if there is any difference in cancer recurrence between the two treatments.

President of ESTRO, Professor Yolande Lievens, head of the department of radiation oncology at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, said: "Until recently, radiotherapy to the whole breast has been the gold-standard treatment following surgery for early stage breast cancer. However, different technical approaches to partial breast irradiation have been developed and are gaining acceptance in clinical practice. The treatment described is already available at many hospitals in Europe. This study adds to evidence that accelerated partial breast treatments may be a valuable alternative for women with early stage breast cancer."

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