Breast cancer treatment does not increase mortality risk

A new type of treatment for early stage breast cancer has been shown not to increase the risk of mortality in patients, despite previous fears to the contrary.

Analysis carried out by experts at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City showed that early-stage breast cancer patients who receive external beam therapy (XRT) are not at higher risk for serious long-term side effects in the chest area, such as deaths from cardiac disease or secondary malignancies.

The research, which was presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's annual meeting, used patient information from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.

It evaluated women who were identified as having primary Stage T1aN0 breast cancer and received surgery, with or without post-operative radiation therapy, between 1990 and 1997, and aimed to determine if XRT was associated with increased mortality due to breast cancer, secondary cancer in the chest area or cardiac conditions.

The experts found that there was no statistically significant difference in deaths from subsequent non-breast cancers in the chest area, the majority of which were lung cancers.

Furthermore, the number of deaths from cardiac causes was not significantly higher for patients treated with XRT for left-sided breast cancer, compared to those with right-sided breast cancer, though women from the non-XRT group died from all causes, including cardiac causes, which suggests that these patients had worse general health than the women who received radiation therapy.

Dr Jason Ye, the study's presenting author, said that breast conserving therapy comprising lumpectomy and XRT has been an "excellent approach" to early breast cancer treatment, offering equivalent disease control and better cosmetic results compared to mastectomy.

"Our study's results suggest that serious long-term side effects of radiation therapy, such as increase in deaths from cardiac disease and secondary malignancies, are rare," he explained.

"The field of radiation oncology is rapidly changing, with new technology constantly being introduced that may reduce these risks further."