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Review
. 2016 Mar 24:35:31.
doi: 10.1186/s40880-016-0095-1.

Accelerated partial breast irradiation: advances and controversies

Mani Akhtari  1   2 , Bin S Teh  3
Affiliations
Review

Accelerated partial breast irradiation: advances and controversies

Mani Akhtari et al. Chin J Cancer. .

Abstract

The management of localized breast cancer has changed dramatically over the past three to four decades. Breast-conserving therapy, which involved lumpectomy followed by adjuvant irradiation, is now widely considered the standard of care in women with early-stage breast cancer. Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), which involves focal irradiation of the lumpectomy cavity over a short period of time, has developed over the past two decades as an alternative to whole breast irradiation (WBI). Multiple APBI modalities have been developed including brachytherapy, external beam irradiation, and intraoperative irradiation. These new techniques have provided early-stage breast cancer patients with shorter treatment duration and more focused irradiation, delivering very high biological doses to the region at a high risk of failures over a much shorter treatment course as compared with conventional radiotherapy. However, the advantages of APBI over conventional radiotherapy are controversial, including a higher risk of complications reported in retrospective literature and shorter follow-up duration in the intraoperative APBI trials. Nevertheless, APBI presents a valuable alternative to WBI for a selected population of women with early-stage breast cancer.

Keywords: Accelerated partial breast irradiation; Brachytherapy; Breast cancer.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Single- and multi-lumen/multi-catheter applicators used in accelerated partial breast irradiation. a An inflated 4X6 MammoSite® (Hologic, Bedford, MA, USA) balloon. b An inflated 4–5 Contura® (SenoRx, Inc., Aliso Viejo, CA, USA) balloon. c An expanded SAVI® (Cianna Medical, Aliso Viejo, CA, USA) 8–1 balloon (top) and placed in plastic model (bottom)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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