Giving radiotherapy in fewer, larger treatments is at least as safe and effective at treating early breast cancer as the international standard dose, according to the 10-year follow-up results of a major Cancer Research UK trial, published in The Lancet Oncology.
Nearly 4,500 women across the UK have taken part in the START trials, which were coordinated by the clinical trials and statistics unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and funded by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health. The five-year results showed it was just as effective and safe to give women a lower total dose of radiotherapy in fewer, larger treatments than the 25-dose international standard, following primary surgery for early breast cancer. As a result, the shorter treatment course of 15 treatments was adopted in the UK in 2008, but the longer course is still used in many other countries. This ‘less is more’ treatment routine has other important benefits for patients, such as the need for fewer trips to hospital. It will also result in cost savings for the health service. The 10-year follow-up, funded by Cancer Research UK, confirms these benefits and shows that the relapse rates of cancer within the same breast are similar to the international standard course of radiotherapy following surgery.
