In reply to Dr. Tiwana

Abstract

Dr. Tiwana points out that our study did not address the extensive intraductal component, nuclear grade, or menopausal status. Although patients were not categorized by menopausal status, we did classify by age and noted that patients receiving concurrent chemotherapy were younger. The concurrent group also more frequently had positive margin status, another factor associated with greater local relapse rates. In our series, our patients were not categorized with respect to an extensive intraductal component. However, several studies have demonstrated that with negative margins, an extensive intraductal component is not a critical determinant of local failure. We also did not have complete documentation of nuclear grade, although this factor has not been consistently associated with local relapse. Concurrent chemo-radiation in the conservative management of breast cancer: In regard to Haffty et al. (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2006;65:1306–1312)International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, PhysicsVol. 67Issue 2PreviewIn regard to article by Haffty et al. (1), the authors retrospectively analyzed the novel concept of concurrent chemoradiotherapy for early breast cancer, with the primary focus of the study on the ipsilateral breast tumor relapse rates. However, our two major concerns are that the authors failed to consider important tumor- and treatment-related prognostic factors affecting local control (2). First, evidence has significantly prognosticated nuclear grade, an extensive intraductal component, and menopausal status in early breast cancer patients treated with breast-conserving therapy, which were omitted in the present study when detailing the patient population characteristics (3, 4). Full-Text PDF