Abstract
BackgroundAdjuvant radiotherapy (RT) of regional lymph nodes (LN) in early breast cancer is still a matter of debate. RT increases the Overall survival (OS) rate of breast cancer patients after breast conserving surgery and after mastectomy in patients with involved LN. The contribution of RT to regional LN to this improvement was poorly identified. Recently, the results of three large randomized trials addressing this question were published as full papers.Material and methodsPublished data of the MA.20 (n = 1832), the EORTC22922–10925 (EORTC) (n = 4004) trial and the French trial (n = 1334) were the foundation of this meta-analysis. Major eligibility criteria were positive i) axillary LN (all trials), ii) LN negative disease with high risk for recurrence (MA.20), and iii) medial/central tumor location (French, EORTC). The MA.20 and the EORTC trial analyzed the effect of additional regional RT to the internal mammary (IM) LN and medial supraclavicular (MS) LN, whereas in the French trial all patients received RT to the MS-LN and solely RT to the IM-LN was randomized. Primary endpoint was OS. Secondary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS) and distant metastasis free survival (DMFS).ResultsRegional RT of MS-LN and IM-LN (MA.20 and EORTC) resulted in a significant improvement of OS [Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.88 (95 % CL 0.78 - 0.99)]. Adding results of the French trial and using a random effects model to respect the different design of the French trial, the effect on OS of regional RT remained significant [HR 0.90 (95 % CL 0.82 - 0.99)]. The absolute benefits in OS were 1 % in the MA.20 trial at 10 years, 1.6 % in the EORTC trial at 10 years, and 3.3 % in the French trial at 10 years (not significant in single trials). Regional RT of MS-LN and IM-LN (MA.20 and EORTC) yielded to a significant improvement of DFS [HR 0.86 (95 % CL 0.78 - 0.95)] and DMFS [HR 0.84 (95 % CL 0.75 - 0.94)].ConclusionAdditional regional RT to the internal mammary and medial supraclavicular LN statistically significantly improved DFS, DMFS, and OS in stage I-III breast cancer.
Highlights
Several clinical investigations showed that breast cancer is a radiosensitive illness [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Adding results of the French trial and using a random effects model to respect the different design of the French trial, the effect on Overall survival (OS) of regional RT remained significant [HR 0.90 (95 % CL 0.82 - 0.99)]
In our former meta-analysis we could show that additional regional RT to the internal mammary and medial supraclavicular lymph nodes (LN) statistically significantly improved DFS, DMFS, and OS in stage I-III breast cancer [7]
Summary
Several clinical investigations showed that breast cancer is a radiosensitive illness [1,2,3,4,5,6]. There is still a dispute if regional LN should be radiated in early breast cancer [7,8,9]. In our former meta-analysis we could show that additional regional RT to the internal mammary and medial supraclavicular LN statistically significantly improved DFS, DMFS, and OS in stage I-III breast cancer [7]. Results of two randomized studies analyzing these questions have recently been published as full papers [10, 11]. Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) of regional lymph nodes (LN) in early breast cancer is still a matter of debate. The results of three large randomized trials addressing this question were published as full papers
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