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
. 2019 Jul 2;14(1):115.
doi: 10.1186/s13014-019-1321-1.

Prospective results of concurrent radiation therapy and weekly paclitaxel as salvage therapy for unresectable locoregionally recurrent breast cancer

Gang Cai  1   2 , Lu Cao  1   2 , Youlia M Kirova  3 , Yan Feng  1 , Jia-Yi Chen  4   5
Affiliations

Prospective results of concurrent radiation therapy and weekly paclitaxel as salvage therapy for unresectable locoregionally recurrent breast cancer

Gang Cai et al. Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of concurrent radiation therapy (RT) and paclitaxel in the treatment of unresectable locoregionally recurrent breast cancer (RBC) after mastectomy as primary treatment.

Methods: This was a prospective monocentric study of 51 patients (pts) diagnosed with unresectable locoregionally RBC after mastectomy and treated between 2008 and 2012. Radiotherapy (RT) was delivered at 60 Gy in 30 treatment fractions to recurrent sites. Chemotherapy was weekly paclitaxel of 50 mg/m2 for 5 weeks. All pts. underwent clinical examination, CT or PET/CT every 3 months in first 2 years and then every 6 months. Tumor response was evaluated clinically and by CT using the RECIST criteria. Toxicity was assessed weekly during RT by the NCI common toxicity criteria (version 3.0).

Results: Fifty-one pts. with 61 recurrent sites were studied. The median age was 49 years. Sites of RBC were chest wall in 20 patients (32.8%), supraclavicular in 19 (31.1%), axilla in 11 (18.0%), and internal mammary lymph nodes in the remaining 11 (18.0%). RBC presented as single in 25 pts., multiple in 20 pts. and diffuse growth in 6 pts. Clinical response was observed in 47 pts. (92.2%), with 36 (70.6%) complete and 11 (21.6%) partial responses. Two patients (3.9%) presented with stable disease and 2 progressive disease. The cumulative local progression-free survival rate was 62.8% at 2 year and 53.0% at 5 years after treatment. No grade 4 toxicity was observed. Grade 3 radiation dermatitis and leukocytopenia were observed in 10 (19.6%) and 12 (23.5%) pts., respectively. One patient experienced grade 2 pneumonitis.

Conclusions: Concurrent RT and weekly paclitaxel could be an effective therapeutic option for unresectable locoregionally recurrent breast cancer after mastectomy with an acceptable toxicity profile.

Keywords: Concurrent chemoradiation; Locoregional recurrent breast cancer; Radiotherapy Paclitaxel.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The cumulative survival rate for all patients after completion of chemoradiation. a The cumulative overall survival rate for all patients after completion of chemoradiation, b The cumulative local progression-free survival rate, c The cumulative distant progression-free survival rate
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. EBCTCG MGP, Taylor C, Correa C, Cutter D, Duane F, Ewertz M, Gray R, Mannu G, Peto R, et al. Effect of radiotherapy after mastectomy and axillary surgery on 10-year recurrence and 20-year breast cancer mortality: meta-analysis of individual patient data for 8135 women in 22 randomised trials. Lancet. 2014;383:2127–2135. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60488-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Haylock BJ, Coppin CM, Jackson J, Basco VE, Wilson KS. Locoregional first recurrence after mastectomy: prospective cohort studies with and without immediate chemotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2000;46:355–362. doi: 10.1016/S0360-3016(99)00428-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dahlstrom KK, Andersson AP, Andersen M, Krag C. Wide local excision of recurrent breast cancer in the thoracic wall. Cancer. 1993;72:774–777. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19930801)72:3<774::AID-CNCR2820720323>3.0.CO;2-Y. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wadasadawala T, Vadgaonkar R, Bajpai J. Management of Isolated Locoregional Recurrences in breast Cancer: a review of local and systemic modalities. Clin Breast Cancer. 2017;17:493–502. doi: 10.1016/j.clbc.2017.03.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chand AR, Ziauddin MF, Tang SC. Can Locoregionally recurrent breast Cancer be cured? Clin Breast Cancer. 2017;17:326–335. doi: 10.1016/j.clbc.2017.02.007. - DOI - PubMed

Substances