One-Week Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer Safe, Effective Up to 10 Years

TUESDAY, May 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A five-fraction, one-week schedule of adjuvant breast radiotherapy is as safe and effective as a standard three-week schedule for patients with invasive breast cancer who have undergone breast surgery, according to a study presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology, held from May 2 to 6 in Vienna.

Adrian M. Brunt, M.B.B.S., from Keele University in Stoke-on-Trent, England, and colleagues randomly assigned 4,110 patients with invasive breast cancer (pT1-3 pN0-1 M0) who had undergone breast surgery to 40 gray in 15 fractions (40Gy/15Fr) over three weeks, 27Gy/5Fr over one week, or 26Gy/5Fr over one week of radiotherapy to the whole breast/chest wall. The primary end point was five-year ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence; follow-up continued to 10 years.

The researchers identified 116 ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences over 10-year follow-up. The shorter radiotherapy schedule provides a similar level of cancer control to standard treatment, with no additional long-term side effects observed. Breast tumor recurrence occurred in 3.6 percent of patients in the 40Gy/15Fr group and in 2.0 percent of patients in the 26Gy/5Fr group, meeting the criteria for noninferiority.

“This 10-year analysis provides definitive long-term evidence that one-week radiotherapy to the breast is a safe, effective, and more practical option for breast cancer patients,” Brunt said in a statement.

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