Prone breast intensity modulated radiation therapy: 5-year results.

PURPOSE: To report the 5-year results of a technique of prone breast radiation therapy delivered by a regimen of accelerated intensity modulated radiation therapy with a concurrent boost to the tumor bed. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between 2003 and 2006, 404 patients with stage I-II breast cancer were prospectively enrolled into 2 consecutive protocols, institutional trials 03-30 and 05-181, that used the same regimen of 40.5 Gy/15 fractions delivered to the index breast over 3 weeks, with a concomitant daily boost to the tumor bed of 0.5 Gy (total dose 48 Gy). All patients were treated after segmental mastectomy and had negative margins and nodal assessment. Patients were set up prone: only if lung or heart volumes were in the field was a supine setup attempted and chosen if found to better spare these organs. RESULTS: Ninety-two percent of patients were treated prone, 8% supine. Seventy-two percent had stage I, 28% stage II invasive breast cancer. In-field lung volume ranged from 0 to 228.27 cm(3), mean 19.65 cm(3). In-field heart volume for left breast cancer patients ranged from 0 to 21.24 cm(3), mean 1.59 cm(3). There was no heart in the field for right breast cancer patients. At a median follow-up of 5 years, the 5-year cumulative incidence of isolated ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence was 0.82% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65%-1.04%). The 5-year cumulative incidence of regional recurrence was 0.53% (95% CI 0.41%-0.69%), and the 5-year overall cumulative death rate was 1.28% (95% CI 0.48%-3.38%). Eighty-two percent (95% CI 77%-85%) of patients judged their final cosmetic result as excellent/good. CONCLUSIONS: Prone accelerated intensity modulated radiation therapy with a concomitant boost results in excellent local control and optimal sparing of heart and lung, with good cosmesis. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group protocol 1005, a phase 3, multi-institutional, randomized trial is ongoing and is evaluating the equivalence of a similar dose and fractionation approach to standard 6-week radiation therapy with a sequential boost.

Making capecitabine targeted therapy for breast cancer: which is the role of thymidine phosphorylase?

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) expression has been found to be elevated in various solid tumors where it is likely involved in mechanisms that regulate cell proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. Based on these properties, it is tempting to hypothesize a potential prognostic role of TP, suggesting that a high TP expression could predict a poor outcome. On the other hand, TP expression has been studied for its role in predicting benefit from treatment with fluoropyrimidine-containing chemotherapy. Several studies have been conducted on breast cancer. The current evidence on the value of TP is not mature enough to allow its translation into clinical practice. However, several findings support the potentially predictive role of TP. In this light, TP appears to be a promising marker that can give helpful information to predict the benefit from capecitabine-based chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.