Background: The objective of this retrospective study was to determine, within one institution, local relapse rate and survival for women with early-stage breast cancer treated with breast-conserving surgery followed by radiotherapy.
Material and methods: All women with infiltrating early-stage breast cancer who underwent post-operative whole breast irradiation at our institution in the period 14.06.99-8.03.2002 were included in the study. A CT-based 3D dose calculation was performed in all patients.
Results: 222 women received 50 Gy whole-breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery in the study period. 51 patients received adjuvant systemic therapy according to national guidelines. Median age at diagnosis was 59 years (34-82 years). Median tumour size was 12 mm (1-30 mm) and 86.5 % of the patients were N0. During a follow-up (median) of 96 months (28-111 months), local recurrence was observed in three of 222 patients (1.4 %; 95 % CI [0.5-4.4 %]) in the ipsilateral breast. The estimated 8-year breast-cancer specific survival was 95 % and total survival was 90 %.
Interpretation: Our data demonstrate excellent local disease control in women with low-risk early-stage breast cancer (about 25 % were on adjuvant systemic therapy) who undergo breast-conserving surgery and 50 Gy whole-breast irradiation.