Can older women with early breast cancer avoid radiation?
Mené sur 1 326 femmes atteintes d'un cancer du sein de stade précoce à faible risque de récidive (âge : 65 ans ou plus ; durée médiane de suivi : 5 ans), cet essai de phase III évalue, du point de vue de la récidive ipsilatérale et de la survie globale à 5 ans, l'intérêt d'une radiothérapie du sein entier après chirurgie conservatrice et traitement endocrinien adjuvant
In The Lancet Oncology, Ian Kunkler and colleagues report findings of PRIME II,1 a randomised controlled trial in older women with early breast cancer who have had breast-conserving surgery, to assess whether omission of radiotherapy has any effect on local recurrence. This report is welcomed, as it shows once again that addition of radiotherapy to adjuvant endocrine treatment in this population of older women with small oestrogen receptor-positive cancers produces a statistically significant, albeit minimal, reduction in ipsilateral breast tumour recurrence at 5 years (1·3% [95% CI 0·2–2·3] with radiotherapy vs 4·1% [2·4–5·7] without radiotherapy; p=0·0002), while showing no differences between treatment groups with respect to regional recurrence, distant metastases, contralateral tumours, or new breast cancers.
The Lancet Oncology , commentaire, 2014