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 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.

SOURCE:
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, February 4, 2004