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Senkus E, Cardoso MJ, Kaidar-Person O, Łacko A, Meattini I, Poortmans P. De-escalation of axillary irradiation for early breast cancer - Has the time come? Cancer Treat Rev 2021; 101:102297. [PMID: 34656018 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2021.102297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy, initially in clinically node-negative and subsequently in patients presenting with involved axilla and downstaged by primary systemic therapy, allowed for significant decrease in morbidity compared to axillary lymph node dissection. Concurrently, regional nodal irradiation was demonstrated to improve outcomes in most node-positive patients. Additionally, over the last decades, introduction of more effective systemic therapies has resulted in improvements not only at distant sites, but also in locoregional control, creating space for de-escalation of locoregional treatments. We discuss the data on de-escalation in axillary surgery and irradiation, both in patients undergoing upfront surgery and primary systemic therapy, with special emphasis on the feasibility of omission of nodal irradiation in patients undergoing primary systemic therapy. In view of the accumulating evidence, omission of axillary irradiation may be considered in clinically node-positive patients converting after primary systemic therapy to pathologically negative nodes on sentinel lymph node biopsy (preferably also with in-breast pCR), presenting with lower initial nodal stage, older age and were treated with breast-conserving surgery followed by whole breast irradiation. Omission of regional nodal irradiation in patients with aggressive tumor phenotypes achieving a pCR is under investigation. In patients undergoing preoperative endocrine therapy the adoption of axillary management strategies utilized in case of upfront surgery seems more suitable than those used in post chemotherapy-based primary systemic therapy setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elżbieta Senkus
- Department of Oncology & Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Smoluchowskiego 17, 80-214 Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Maria Joao Cardoso
- Breast Unit, Champalimaud Foundation, Av Brasilia, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal; Nova Medical School, Campo dos Mártires da Pátria 130, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal.
| | - Orit Kaidar-Person
- Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy Unit, at Sheba Medical Center, Derech Sheba 2, Ramat Gan 52662, Israel; GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology (Maastro), Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER Maastricht, the Netherlands; The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
| | - Aleksandra Łacko
- Department of Oncology, Wroclaw Medical University, plac Hirszfelda 12, 53-413 Wrocław, Poland; Department of Clinical Oncology, Breast Unit, Lower Silesian Oncology Centre, plac Hirszfelda 12, 53-413 Wroclaw, Poland.
| | - Icro Meattini
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "M. Serio", University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, 50134 Florence, Italy; Radiation Oncology Unit - Oncology Department, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Careggi, Largo Brambilla 3, 50134 Florence, Italy.
| | - Philip Poortmans
- Iridium Netwerk, Oosterveldlaan 24, 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp, Belgium; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Building S. Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp, Belgium.
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