Breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in women worldwide. Although advances in treatment have led to an overall reduction in breast cancer mortality, survivors continue to have an ongoing risk of disease recurrence. For women who experience breast recurrence, mastectomy has historically been the only treatment approach offered. However, it has been associated with negative health outcomes, including reduced quality of life, depression and anxiety, and impaired sexual functioning. As a result, there is increasing interest to identify treatment options that include breast preservation. Breast-conserving surgery followed by re-irradiation with partial breast irradiation has recently been found to be a safe alternative to mastectomy for women who have undergone prior whole breast radiation.
A prospective study of partial breast re-irradiation in patients with local recurrence of breast cancer