Post surgical radiotherapy a must in breast cancer says the UK cancer  foundation. Read on to know more.

Team@CMHF

Radiotherapy dramatically reduces the risk of relapse among breast cancer patients who have undergone lumpectomies, say scientists.

Researchers from Oxford University discovered that radiation treatment used after surgery can decrease the chance of the disease recurring by fifty per cent.

It is one of the most in-depth studies of its kind, assessing data from more than 10,000 women over a ten-year period.

Findings revealed that radiotherapy can decrease the likelihood of cancer spreading to other parts of the body and can be ‘a major life saver’ for many.

The therapy which involves the use of high energy X-rays is often used after surgery to kill any cancerous cells that could have been missed.

Lead researcher Professor Sarah Darby said: ‘Some people have been wondering whether radiotherapy is really necessary for all women after breast conserving surgery.
‘Our results identify several groups of women for whom radiotherapy is a major life saver.’

Radiotherapy is carefully planned to ensure that it destroys as many cancerous cells as possible, while protecting healthy cells. The amount of radiotherapy depends on where the cancer is, the size and type of the disease and the patient’s general health.

All the women involved in the study had breast cancers small enough to be removed by a lumpectomy (a breast-conserving surgical procedure to remove a discrete lump).

Over the course of the ten-year study their progress was monitored, and scientists compared the progress of those who had and hadn’t undergone radiation therapy.

While Professor Darby notes that breast cancer treatment has developed in the time since the trials began, knowing the long-term benefits of radiotherapy will help guide future treatment.

She added: ‘Whenever possible women with breast cancer are treated with surgery. The surgery can be mastectomy (removal of the entire breast) or breast-conserving surgery (removal of only a part of the breast).

‘At the moment, the guidelines are that all women who have breast-conserving surgery should have radiotherapy.
‘For women who have a mastectomy, radiotherapy is necessary if their disease has

spread to the lymph nodes in their arm-pits but not otherwise.’

Professor Thomas Buchholz, in a response to the findings, which were published in the Lancet medical journal this week, said: ‘It reduces the chance of developing a breast cancer recurrence and most importantly it improves the chance of overall survival.

‘Radiation led to a 50 per cent proportional reduction in the risk of a breast cancer recurrence and that is perhaps the most effective treatment we have against breast cancer.’

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, and the UK Medical Research Council.

Ref: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2051736/Radiotherapy-surgery-halves-chance-breast-cancer-returning.html?ito=feeds-newsxm