Know More About Radiation Therapy For Breast Cancer

Know More About Radiation Therapy For Breast Cancer

October is observed to be a breast cancer awareness month. Among Indian females, breast cancer is the most commonly detected cancer with age adjusted rate as high as 25.8 per 100,000 women and a mortality of 12.7 per 100,000 women. The overall survival rate for breast cancer is 90%, which means 90 out of 100 women can survive after being diagnosed.

However, it’s a most curable cancer when detected early and treated properly. The treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy depending upon the stage of cancer.

Radiation therapy uses special high-energy X-rays or particles to damage the cancer cell’s DNA. When a cancer cell’s DNA is damaged, it can’t divide successfully and it dies. In this process, some normal cells will be affected but they tend to heal the damage and thus recover in 4-6 weeks post-radiation therapy.

Radiotherapy is given in all cases after breast conservation surgery and after mastectomy in advanced cases. In breast conservation treatment, radiation is given to the entire breast (called whole breast radiation). Additional boost of radiation is given to the breast area where the cancer was removed (called tumor bed). Sometimes, the area treated also includes the nodes above the collarbone (supraclavicular lymph nodes) and nodes beneath the breast bone in the center of the chest (internal mammary lymph nodes).

External radiation is delivered by a linear accelerator (or Linac) which directs radiation toward the affected part. Studies have shown that a short course of whole breast treatment, delivered over a 3-4-week period, is equally effective and well-tolerated with no nausea or vomiting. Patients with shorter course have to meet certain pathologic and dosimetric criteria, and the heart should be blocked (for left-sided breast cancers).

As per studies, there are even shorter courses of radiation; Ultra-hypo fractionation – five treatments delivered in different ways for early breast cancer patients and equally effective.

New breast cancer treatments like radiotherapy and gated radiotherapy increase the chances of patients getting cured and also improves the quality of life. Deep Inspiration Breath-Hold (DIBH) technique used is 4D-based, because it is a special kind of gating, i.e. the irradiation of patients is carried out only in the phase of deep inspiration, which shifts the target away from the heart by increasing the volume of lung between the irradiated breast and heart and thus minimizing dose to the heart in left-sided breast cancer patients.

Note: With careful planning in radiation treatments, patients get great results and the fewest side effects possible.