Patients with early stage breast cancer who received breast-conserving surgery and were eligible for observation were more likely to undergo adjuvant radiotherapy in facilities performing accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), a study published in the journal Cancer has shown.1
To determine whether access to APBI facilities is associated with differences in the use of postsurgery radiation therapy, investigators retrospectively analyzed data from 222,444 patients with early stage breast cancer diagnosed between 2004 and 2013.
Of those, 76.6% underwent breast-conserving surgery plus adjuvant radiotherapy and 23.4% underwent surgery alone.
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Results showed that in the overall population, there was no significant difference in the likelihood of receiving radiotherapy between ABPI facilities, defined as facilities performing APBI in 10% or more of their eligible patients within a given year, and non-APBI facilities (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.02; P =.61).
Subgroup analysis further demonstrated that among patients with standard-risk invasive cancer, who would most benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy, there was no correlation between evaluation at an APBI facility and receipt of radiotherapy.
However, patients with low-risk invasive breast cancer were significantly more likely to receive radiotherapy (AOR, 1.22; P <.001) at APBI facilities, and those with ductal carcinoma in situ were significantly less likely to undergo radiotherapy at APBI facilities (P =.04).
Reference
1. Wang EH, Park HS, Rutter CE, et al. Association between access to accelerated partial breast irradiation and use of adjuvant radiotherapy. Cancer. 2016 Sep 23. doi: 10.1002/cncr.30356. [Epub ahead of print]
