The growing interest in partial-breast irradiation (PBI) and accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) for treatment of early-stage breast cancer make clear the need for ongoing dialogue and well-designed clinical studies of the radiation techniques, concludes a commentary in the February 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Breast-conserving therapy has been accepted as an alternative to mastectomy in the management of early-stage breast cancer. Because of the increasing interest in PBI--a technique that directs radiation only at the portion of the breast at high risk for recurrence--and in APBI--which has an accelerated schedule of treatment--the National Cancer Institute hosted a workshop in which issues regarding the equivalency of various radiation therapy approaches and the future needs for research were discussed.

In the commentary, Paul E. Wallner, D.O., and C. Norman Coleman, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues present a summary of the workshop. The authors review the current technology and current science relating to PBI and APBI, and they highlight the need for additional research, training, quality assurance, and procedure standardization.

Preoperative Chemoradiation May Benefit Some Patients with Rectal Cancer

Chemotherapy plus radiation therapy is beneficial for some patients with localized rectal cancer who are carefully selected based on the stage of their disease, according to a new study that uses a statistical model.

Although radical resection and chemoradiation (treatment with both chemotherapy and radiation therapy) after surgery have been the standard therapy for patients with rectal cancer, chemoradiation before surgery is widely used when the extent of the disease is determined through clinical staging. However, there is little information available that directly compares these two appro
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Contact: Katherine Arnold
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
3-Feb-2004