Randomized trial of breast irradiation schedules after lumpectomy for women with lymph node-negative breast cancer. Whelan T, MacKenzie R, Julian J, Levine M, Shelley W, Grimard L, Lada B, Lukka H, Perera F, Fyles A, Laukkanen E, Gulavita S, Benk V, Szechtman BT. Whelan, M. Levine McMaster University, and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre, Hamilton, Ontario. Excerpted from the Abstract BACKGROUND: Breast irradiation after lumpectomy is an integral component of breast-conserving therapy that reduces the local recurrence of breast cancer. Because an optimal fractionation schedule (radiation dose given in a specified number of fractions or treatment sessions over a defined time) for breast irradiation has not been uniformly accepted, we examined whether a 22-day fractionation schedule was as effective as the more traditional 35-day schedule in reducing recurrence. RESULTS: From April 1993 through September 1996, 1234 women were randomly assigned to treatment, 622 to the short arm and 612 to the long arm. Median follow-up was 69 months. Five-year local recurrence-free survival was 97.2% in the short arm and 96.8% in the long arm (absolute difference = 0.4%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.5% to 2.4%). No difference in disease-free or overall survival rates was detected between study arms. The percentage of patients with an excellent or good global cosmetic outcome at 3 years was 76.8% in the short arm and 77.0% in the long arm; the corresponding data at 5 years were 76.8% and 77.4%, respectively (absolute difference = -0.6%, 95% CI = -6.5% to 5.5%). CONCLUSION: The more convenient 22-day fractionation schedule appears to be an acceptable alternative to the 35-day schedule. J Natl Cancer Inst 2002 Aug 7;94(15):1143-50 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.