Fewer adverse side-effects from partial or reduced breast radiotherapy

Breast cancer patients reported fewer moderate or marked side effects if they were treated with radiotherapy to part of the breast or a reduced dose to the whole breast, according to new findings from a major study.
The IMPORT LOW study of 2,016 women in 41 centres in the UK has already shown that partial breast and reduced dose radiotherapy was as effective as whole breast radiotherapy in controlling the cancer at five years, and women in the partial breast and reduced dose groups reported fewer side-effects, including less change in the appearance of the breast.
These latest results, which focus predominantly on side-effects affecting the breast and also body image reported during the five years following radiotherapy, show that over half of patients in the study did not report moderate or marked side-effects at any point and that most side-effects reduced over time.
The number of side-effects reported per person were fewer in the partial breast and reduced dose groups compared with the whole breast radiotherapy group.
The IMPORT LOW trial was coordinated by the Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and funded by Cancer Research UK.
The Institute of Cancer Researchwww.icr.ac.uk/news-archive/women-report-fewer-adverse-side-effects-from-partial-or-reduced-breast-radiotherapy-reveals-major-study