Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Dec;7(6):596-610.
doi: 10.21037/gs.2018.11.05.

Accelerated partial breast radiotherapy: a review of the literature and future directions

Nathan R Bennion  1 , Michael Baine  1 , Andrew Granatowicz  2 , Andrew O Wahl  1
Affiliations
Review

Accelerated partial breast radiotherapy: a review of the literature and future directions

Nathan R Bennion et al. Gland Surg. 2018 Dec.

Abstract

Breast conservation therapy exemplifies the tailoring of medicine in the care of patients with cancer. Akin to improvements in surgical approaches, accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) tailors the treatment volume and duration to the needs of well selected patients. Here, we examine the evidence supporting APBI as well as the lessons in patient selection, dose and delivery techniques. Examination of historical techniques and their associated outcomes will support more correct patient selection and treatment delivery in an era where we await the reports of several large prospective trials.

Keywords: Breast cancer; accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI); brachytherapy; breast conservation; radiotherapy; toxicity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dose distribution in breast radiotherapy. Axial and coronal dose distributions characteristic of balloon-based brachytherapy (A,B), external beam partial breast irradiation (C,D), and whole breast irradiation (E,F) respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Fisher B, Anderson S, Bryant J, et al. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized trial comparing total mastectomy, lumpectomy, and lumpectomy plus irradiation for the treatment of invasive breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2002;347:1233-41. 10.1056/NEJMoa022152 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liljegren G, Holmberg L, Bergh J, et al. 10-Year results after sector resection with or without postoperative radiotherapy for stage I breast cancer: a randomized trial. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:2326-33. 10.1200/JCO.1999.17.8.2326 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Veronesi U, Marubini E, Mariani L, et al. Radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery in small breast carcinoma: long-term results of a randomized trial. Ann Oncol 2001;12:997-1003. 10.1023/A:1011136326943 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) , Darby S, McGale P, et al. Effect of radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery on 10-year recurrence and 15-year breast cancer death: meta-analysis of individual patient data for 10,801 women in 17 randomised trials. Lancet 2011;378:1707-16. 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61629-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Whelan TJ, Olivotto IA, Parulekar WR, et al. Regional nodal irradiation in early-stage breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2015;373:307-16. 10.1056/NEJMoa1415340 - DOI - PMC - PubMed