SABCS: Younger Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Patients Can Avoid Adjuvant RT

THURSDAY, Dec. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For postmenopausal women aged 50 to 69 years with stage 1 hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, the risk for recurrence is very low for those who do not undergo radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery (BCS), according to a study published online Dec. 7 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology to coincide with the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 5 to 9 in San Antonio.

Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., from Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues examined whether younger postmenopausal patients who might be successfully treated without radiotherapy could be identified by adding a genomic assay to classic selection factors. A total of 200 eligible postmenopausal patients aged 50 to 69 years with pT1N0 unifocal invasive breast cancer with margins ≥2 mm after BCS whose tumors were estrogen receptor-positive, progesterone receptor-positive, and HER2-negative, with Oncotype DX 21-gene Recurrence Score ≤18 were enrolled.

One hundred eighty-six patients had clinical follow-up of at least 56 months; at five years, their overall and breast cancer-specific survival rates were both 100 percent. The researchers found that the five-year freedom from recurrence was 99 percent. For the entire follow-up period, the crude rates of ipsilateral breast events were 3.3 and 3.6 percent for patients aged 50 to 59 and 60 to 69 years, respectively; the corresponding crude rates of overall recurrence were 5.0 and 3.6 percent.

"Although techniques of radiation treatment have improved dramatically, and it is far more efficient and tolerable now than it used to be, patients appreciate having a choice about their treatments," Jagsi said in a statement.

Jagsi disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry and reported serving as an expert witness.

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