Breast radiotherapy

PURPOSE: Intraoperative radiotherapy using The INTRABEAM System (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany), a miniature low-energy X-ray source, has proven to be an effective modality in the treatment of breast cancer. However, some uncertainties remain in its dosimetry. In this work, we investigated the INTRABEAM system dosimetry by performing ionization chamber and radiochromic film measurements of absorbed dose in a water phantom. METHODS: Ionization chamber measurements were performed with a PTW 34013 parallel-plate soft X-ray chamber at source to detector distances of 5 mm to 30 mm in a water phantom...

PURPOSE: We calculated setup margins for whole breast radiotherapy during voluntary deep-inspiration breath-hold (vDIBH) using real-time surface imaging (SI). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients (n = 58) with a 27-to-31 split between right- and left-sided cancers were analyzed. Treatment beams were gated using AlignRT by registering the whole breast region-of-interest to the surface generated from the simulation CT scan. AlignRT recorded (three-dimensional) 3D displacements and the beam-on-state every 0...

BACKGROUND: Upper extremity lymphedema is a complication that often occurs in women with breast cancer as a result of surgery and/or radiotherapy. Some studies report that a boating activity known as the "dragon boat" sport can benefit these women. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess whether this type of sport prevents or reduces lymphedema, its impact on quality of life (QoL), and the possible predictors of this condition. METHODS: This was an observational study of 2 groups: group A (women who participated in dragon boat racing for at least 6 months) and group B (women who participated in other forms of physical exercise biweekly)...

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is a rare dysfunction of the cerebellum associated with malignancy. Nevertheless, it is the most common paraneoplastic syndrome affecting the brain. A 50-year-old woman presented to the neurology outpatient department (OPD) with symptoms of cerebellar dysfunction since 4 months and complaints of a painless lump in the right breast and drooling from mouth since 1 month. Examination revealed classical signs of cerebellar dysfunction and a 5×5 cm lump in the right breast with a single right axillary lymph node...

BACKGROUND: Deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) can be performed using different breathing maneuvers, such as DIBH with a thoracic breathing maneuver (T-DIBH) and DIBH with an abdominal breathing maneuver (A-DIBH). Dosimetric benefits of A-DIBH were investigated in the treatment of left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy (RT) with both 3-Dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) techniques. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with left-sided breast cancer were enrolled in this study...

Tumor protein 53 ( TP53 ) is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes tumor protein p53. Tumor protein p53 regulates the expression of target genes in response to cellular stress. Additionally, p53 participates in the regulation of cell cycle checkpoints, DNA repair and apoptosis. Mutations in the TP53 gene are associated with numerous types of human cancer, including breast cancer, sarcomas, brain tumors and adrenal cortical carcinomas. In breast cancer, TP53 mutations are a negative prognostic factor. Tumors with TP53 mutations are more likely to be aggressive (triple-negative or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer), and resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy...

Coffee is associated with decreased breast cancer risk, but the impact of body mass index (BMI) in combination with coffee consumption on prognosis is unclear. The suppressive effect of coffee constituents on the insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (IGF1R) levels in breast cancer cells may play a role. The aim was to investigate the prognostic impact of coffee consumption and possible associations with tumor-specific IGF1R protein expression and BMI in a population-based cohort in Sweden, comprising 1,014 primary breast cancer patients without pretreatment enrolled 2002-2012 and followed for up to 13 years...

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate aesthetic outcome and patient satisfaction in women who have undergone DIEP reconstruction in the setting of PMRT. Patients who underwent DIEP reconstruction without PMRT were the control group. METHODS: Participants who had undergone DIEP between 9/1/2009-9/1/2014 were recruited, answered the BREAST-Q and underwent 3D surface-imaging. A panel assessed the aesthetic outcome by reviewing these images. RESULTS: 167 women participated...

BACKGROUND: The prognostic equivalence between mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by radiotherapy was shown in pivotal trials conducted decades ago. Since then, detection and treatment of breast cancer have improved substantially and recent retrospective analyses point towards a survival benefit for less extensive breast surgery. Evidence for the association of such survival data with locoregional recurrence rates is largely lacking. METHODS: The Swedish Multicentre Cohort Study prospectively included clinically node-negative patients with breast cancer who had planned sentinel node biopsy between 2000 and 2004...

BACKGROUND: Internal malignancies such as breast cancer, as well as their treatment can often result in skin changes. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of dermatological complaints in patients who are undergoing oncological treatment for breast cancer in a hospital in Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brazil. METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional study, from October 2015 to February 2016 in which 152 patients with the diagnosis of breast cancer, undergoing treatment with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and/or surgery, were interviewed and completed a research protocol developed by the author...

Due to their abilities of transforming into bulk cancer cells and resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, cancer stem cells (CSCs) are currently considered as a major obstacle for cancer treatment. Application of multiple drugs using nano-carriers is a promising approach to simultaneously eliminate non-cancer stem cells (non-CSCs) and CSCs. Herein, to employ the advantages of nano-medicine while avoiding new excipients, pH-responsive pro-drug (PEG-CH=N-DOX) was employed as the surfactant to fabricate cargo-free nano-medicine for co-delivery of DOX conjugated prodrug with SN38 to synergistically eradicate breast cancer stem cells (bCSCs) and non-bCSCs...

Nowadays, medical information regarding various diseases and disorders is available online. The Internet has become the first choice for the patient when it comes to gathering detailed information about a disease or problem. Therefore, in view of this frequent occurrence, the information that is provided online needs to be accurate; providing comprehensive facts, transparency, and quality. A study was carried out to determine the accuracy of information related to breast cancer on various websites. Websites which share information online about breast cancer, in the Arabic language, were selected...

Purpose: To evaluate local recurrence (LR) in women with early breast cancer (BC) who underwent intraoperative radiation therapy with electrons particles (IORT-E) or adjuvant hypofractionated external radiotherapy (HYPOFX). Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed 470 patients with early BC treated at our center from September 2009 to December 2012. 235 women were treated with breast-conserving surgery and immediate IORT-E (21 Gy/1 fraction) while 235 patients underwent wide excision followed by hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation...

Background: Tenets of chest wall reconstruction for malignancy are well known; however, the insertion of synthetic prosthetic material to achieve rigid and nonrigid skeletal reconstruction could be associated with more complications including infection and extrusion especially in high risk patients. This includes fungating, infected tumors, previous radiotherapy, scars, smoking, diabetes, and morbid obesity. Bioprosthesis Acelluar Dermal Matrix Strattice would be a substitute to resist infection and provide stable coverage...

Background: An insufficient number of studies have been carried out in the Middle East to evaluate the role of structured psychotherapeutic interventions in enhancing breast cancer patients' psychological well-being, quality of life and treatment compliance. This study has been designed to address this limitation by exploring the benefit of two structured psychotherapeutic interventions, crisis counseling and psychoeducation, in enhancing breast cancer patients' psychological well-being, quality of life and treatment compliance in Qatar...

PURPOSE: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and not all patients respond equally to adjuvant radiotherapy. Predictive biomarkers are needed to select patients who will benefit from the treatment and spare others the toxicity and burden of radiation. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We first trained and tested an intrinsic radiosensitivity gene signature to predict local recurrence after radiotherapy in three cohorts of 948 patients. Next, we developed an antigen processing and presentation-based immune signature by maximizing the treatment interaction effect in 129 patients...

PURPOSE: A meta-analysis of 22 randomized trials accrued from 1964 to 1986 demonstrated significantly higher rates of locoregional failure (LRF) and breast-cancer mortality in women with 1-3 positive nodes without postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) after mastectomy (mast.). Recent data demonstrate that PMRT reduces distant metastases (DM) in women with pN1 disease. The challenge today is whether all patients with pathologic T1-2pN1 disease have similar substantial LRF/DM risk that routinely warrants PMRT...

PURPOSE: Preliminary data suggest that high expression of the TRβ1 tumor suppressor is associated with longer survival among women with early breast cancer. We undertook this study to validate these findings. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, we analyzed the prognostic significance of TRβ1 protein expression in the breast tumors of 796 women who had undergone breast surgery in the Henrietta Banting Breast Cancer database. All women were recruited after undergoing primary surgical therapy at Women's College Hospital (Toronto, ON, Canada) between January 1987 and December 2000...

INTRODUCTION: For early stage breast cancer patients, non-breast cancer mortality including secondary cancers and cardiac events can overshadow the benefit of adjuvant radiotherapy. This study evaluates the excess risk of secondary cancer for various breast radiotherapy techniques including accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). METHODS: Secondary cancers Lifetime Attributable Risks (LAR) were calculated using a modified BEIR-VII formalism to account for the specific survival of breast cancer patients...

BACKGROUND: Post-mastectomy lymphedema is one of the most significant, non-life-threatening complications following breast cancer surgery and radiotherapy. Post-mastectomy post-radiotherapy (PMPR) lymphedema is related to damages to lymphatics and/or veins during/after axillary surgery and radiotherapy. The management of this condition is very challenging; the comprehensive decongestive therapy (CTD), which combines physiotherapy, self-management, and hygiene, and is currently considered the standard management (SM)...