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CancerSmart Web Cast April 3, 2008 -- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center expert, Larry Norton, Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs provides an update on current breast cancer research and treatment, and an overview on promising breast cancer research studies.
Total Run time: 127 minutes |
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Radiation therapy is offered to breast cancer patients to rid the body of any microscopic cancer cells that may remain near the area where the cancer was originally found. The usual course of therapy includes daily treatments five days a week for five to seven weeks. Each session generally lasts an hour or less.
Radiation therapy works by causing changes at the molecular level in tissues where the radiation beam is targeted. Giving all the radiation needed at one time would cause significant and irreparable damage not only to cancer cells, but also to normal cells. However, giving small doses of radiation each day enables the majority of healthy cells to repair any damage, while rendering cancer cells inactive.
Side Effects
The good news is that, apart from some general fatigue, there are few side effects associated with radiation therapy. Some women may develop one or more short-term side effects including a sunburn-like reaction on the areas of their skin that were irradiated, muscle stiffness, mild swelling, and tenderness. Others may have no perceptible side effects. Long-term side effects may include shrinking of the irradiated breast. There is no increased risk of cancer associated with radiation therapy, with the exception of an increased risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers.
Improving Cosmetic Outcome
Radiation oncologists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering have been studying the effects of radiation therapy on the breast in hopes of improving cosmetic outcome. For example, they have developed a special platform for overweight women with large breasts. The platform allows women to receive radiation therapy while lying on their stomachs. (Conventional radiation therapy to the breast is given to a patient lying on her back.) The treated breast suspends through an opening in the table below the patient, allowing radiation oncologists to target treatment better and to avoid radiating the tissue surrounding the breast.
IMRT
Our physicians are developing new radiation techniques, including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy. These techniques allow doctors to change the shape and intensity of radiation beams so they are focused more effectively on cancer cells, and away from the surrounding tissue and organs, thereby reducing toxicity. IMRT and three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy already are effective treatments for prostate cancer and are proving to be useful in treating breast cancer, as well.
Treatment for Recurrent Breast Cancer
Memorial Sloan-Kettering is also one of the few cancer centers where patients with recurrent breast cancer can be treated with radiation therapy even if radiation was used in the initial treatment of their cancer. Because the risk of side effects is greater when radiation therapy is used a second time, our physicians can help minimize those effects while maximizing the patient's chances of successful treatment.
Our researchers are also participating in a new study that looks at whether or not women with certain types of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early, preinvasive form of breast cancer, need radiation therapy in addition to breast-conserving surgery, or if surgery alone is enough. (Because of enhanced use of mammography, more women are being diagnosed with DCIS. Twenty to 25 percent of all the new breast cancers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering are DCIS.) Patients in this study will also have the option of receiving tamoxifen.
