Intraoperative Open-Cavity Implant for Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Using High-Dose Rate Multicatheter Brachytherapy in Japanese Breast Cancer Patients: A Single-Institution Registry Study

Background: Previous research has compared the efficacies of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) and wholebreast irradiation (WBI). APBI immediately after surgery may provide more benefit after intraoperative insertion of catheters. Although balloon catheter-based APBI is available in the US, it is difficult in Japanese women, who have relatively small breasts. With the applicators being implanted during tumor removal, APBI can be started immediately after surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of APBI using the intraoperative open-cavity implant technique. Method: Patients (age≥40 years) with invasive breast cancer (diameter≤3 cm) were enrolled. Before lumpectomy, the insertion of applicators and delivery doses were simulated by computed tomography (CT). After confirmation of free margins and negative sentinel nodes (SNs) using frozen section analysis, applicators were inserted. Postoperative CT-based dose distribution analysis was performed using dose-volume histograms. APBI was started on the day of surgery, delivering 32 Gy in 8 fractions over the following 5-6 days, and it covered a distance of 2 cm from tumor margins. This observational study was approved by the institutional review board of our hospital. Results: From October 2008 to July 2012, 157 women (160 lesions) were enrolled (age 55.0 years, <40:9, SN+: 25, for patients’ request). The mean number of applicators used was 6.4 (2-15) and mean planning target volume was 35.8 cm3 (6.5-137.1 cm3). All radiotherapy-related toxicities were mild. However, 12 patients (7.5%) experienced wound breakdown because of surgical site infection. Two patients developed ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (1 marginal, 1 at a distant site). Conclusions: Despite the small number of participants and a short follow-up period, our results suggest that this technique could be helpful in establishing clinical safety and efficacy.

Sentinel-Node-Driven Personalized Radiation Techniques Ranging from Partial Breast Irradiation to Regional Nodal Radiation after Breast-Conserving Surgery

Background: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by whole breast irradiation (WBI) has become the standard of care for treating patients with early-stage breast cancer. Recently, various radiation techniques followed by BCS have been reported. We have been investigating “personalized radiotherapy after BCS” ranging from accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) to WBI with regional nodal irradiation (RNI) based on the axillary node status. In this study, we compared different cohorts that received personalized radiotherapy. Method: Of 317 consecutive patients who underwent BCS followed by radiotherapy since November 2007, 187 who received APBI and 122 who received WBI were analyzed. Results: The local-only recurrence rate was 1.1% in the APBI group and 3.3% in the WBI group, and the regional-only recurrence rate was 1.1% for APBI and 0.8% for WBI. Conclusions: The clinical efficacy of APBI for local control after BCS was comparable to that of WBI ± RNI. Although this study was based on a small number of patients with a short follow-up period, the feasibility of breast-conserving therapy using multicatheter brachytherapy to achieve acceptable clinical outcomes was demonstrated.