External and Interstitial Radiation Therapy of Locally Advanced Carcinoma of the Breast

Abstract

The present report concerns 164 cases of locally advanced breast cancer (stage III), treated between December 1977 and January 1987. The local therapy consisted exclusively of radiation therapy including external beam irradiation (⁶⁰Co) up to 45-50 Gy supplemented with a boost, delivered either by interstitial ¹⁹²Ir (30-40 Gy) or by external irradiation from limited fields (15-22 Gy). Eighty-one patients also received adjuvant systemic chemotherapy. A total of 51 local failures (31%) occurred. The actuarial rate of survival with local tumor control was 53% at 5 years and 49% at 6.5 years. A total of 69 patients developed distant metastases (42%). The actuarial survival without distant failure was 43% at 5 years and 37% at 6 years. The actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 53% and 38% at 7 years. The cosmetic results were excellent in 58 patients and poor in 13 patients (9.7%). The result suggests that stage III breast cancer can be satisfactorily treated with radiation therapy alone as local treatment.