A new study suggests that for certain women over 65, radiation after breast cancer surgery doesn’t improve overall survival odds.
For women 65 and older with breast cancer, the odds of survival are nearly identical whether or not surgery is followed by radiation, according to a study published February 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine — which suggests it may be possible for this group to forgo taxing radiation treatment.
For individuals with early breast cancer, “historical trials showed that radiotherapy reduced the risk of recurrence within the breast after breast conserving surgery … by three- to fourfold,” says the lead study author, Ian Kunkler, MB BChir, an honorary professor of clinical oncology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Read more here: https://www.everydayhealth.com/breast-cancer/older-women-undergoing-breast-cancer-surgery-may-be-able-to-skip-radiation/