FRIDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- Radiotherapy after local excision of ductal carcinoma-in-situ (DCIS) of the breast reduces the risk of local recurrence for up to 10 years, according to results from a European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer trial published in the July 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Nina Bijker, M.D., Ph.D., of The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital in Amsterdam, and colleagues randomly assigned 1,010 women who underwent a complete local excision of DCIS to either no treatment or radiotherapy at 50 Gray, and followed both groups for a median of 10.5 years to measure recurrence rates.
The investigators found that 85 percent of women treated with local excision and radiotherapy were disease-free at 10 years compared to only 74 percent of women treated with surgery alone. Besides only having local excision, additional risk factors for local recurrence were young age, symptomatic detection, intermediate or poorly defined DCIS, cribriform or solid growth pattern, and doubtful margin.
Radiotherapy "should be considered in all women treated with breast-conserving treatment for DCIS," the authors write. However, different strategies should be considered for women with both low- and high-risk of local recurrence, they conclude.
Abstract
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