[Conservative treatment of breast cancer (the Lyon experience during 1963-1983)]. / Traitement conservateur du cancer du sein (expérience lyonnaise 1963-1983).

Over a 20-year period (1969-1983), 570 infiltrating primary breast carcinomas were conservatively treated in Lyons. Two different protocols were used: a first group of 162 patients with T1 T2 less than 3 cm NO lesions was treated, between 1963 and 1973, by lumpectomy and external beam irradiation with 60cobalt. The 5 and 10 year overall survival rates are 86% and 66% respectively. Local and regional failure rates are 10% and 2.5%. Cosmetic result was good or excellent in 70% of patients with only 5% poor results; a second group of 408 patients with T1 T2 less than 3 cm lesions was treated between 1973 and 1983 by tumorectomy and axillary dissection, followed by cobalt irradiation and 192iridium boost. The 5-year overall survival rate was 90% and, at 5 years, the probability of failure is 5% in the breast and 2% in the axilla. Cosmetic results are comparable in the 2 groups. Comparison of these 2 groups indicates an improvement in local control with Iridium boost. No obvious change in axillary recurrence rate and overall survival rate was observed. Boost modalities are discussed, with regard to cosmetic results. A prospective randomized study was initiated in 1986, in order to assess the value of the boost in the conservative treatment of breast cancer.

Interstitial curietherapy in the conservative treatment of anal and rectal cancers.

Conservative treatment has become a valid alternative to radical surgery in most cases of cancer of the anal canal and in selected cases of cancer of the low rectum. In this strategy interstitial curietherapy has an appreciable role to play. The results of a series of 369 patients followed more than 3 years indicate that implantation of Iridium-192 is effective not as sole treatment but as a booster dose 2 months after a course of external beam or intracavitary irradiation. The dose delivered did not exceed 20 to 30 Gy and the implantations were always performed in one plane using either a plastic template or a steel fork. Three groups of cases must be considered: (a) among 221 patients with epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal, the rate of death related to treatment failures was 20% and among the patients cured more than 90% retained normal sphincter function. (b) In 90 patients with T1-T2 invasive adenocarcinoma of the rectum, Iridium-192 was carried out after four applications of contact X ray therapy. The rate of control was 84%. (c) In 62 elderly, poor risk patients with T2-T3 tumor of the low rectum initially suitable for an abdomino-perineal resection, a tentative extension of the field of conservation was made using a split-course protocol combining a short course of external beam irradiation at a dose of 30-35 Gy in 10 fractions over 12 days and an Iridium-192 implant. The rate of death due to treatment failures was 14.5% and among the patients controlled 97% had a normal anal function. These results show that implantations of Iridium-192 may contribute to the control of anal and rectal cancers and may spare many patients a permanent colostomy, but the treatment requires great care in patient selection, treatment protocol, technical details, and follow-up. This treatment policy must be conceived as a team work of radiation oncologists and surgeons.

Epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal. A series of 276 cases.

During the past ten years, substantial progress has been made in the knowledge of the natural history of epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal and of the response of the disease to radiotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy. At the present time, the main problem in the management of this tumor concerns identification of the best modalities to achieve local control and preservation of anal function. From a series of 276 cases, followed for more than three years, the necessity for a careful pretreatment evaluation was stressed. This included a systematic search for pelvic metastatic lymph nodes by palpation and CT scan. All patients were treated initially by irradiation except those who underwent groin dissection for inguinal node metastasis or colostomy for complete anal obstruction. Three groups of patients have been identified: unresectable or disseminated tumors (33 cases), resectable tumors but not suitable for sphincter conservation (21 cases) treated by radiochemotherapy and delayed surgery, and resectable tumors suitable for sphincter conservation (222 cases) which were treated by a split-course regimen combining a short course of carefully planned external beam irradiation (19 days) followed by an iridium 192 implant after a two-month rest. In this group, which represents 80 percent of the whole series, 80 percent of patients have had their cancer controlled and 90 percent of controlled patients have retained normal anal function. The use of chemotherapy during the first days of irradiation is advisable in all cases to reinforce the efficacy of treatment and increase the chance of anal preservation. Results of the split-course regimen, combining external beam and interstitial irradiation, demonstrate a clear superiority over external beam irradiation alone, especially for large infiltrating tumors, which represent the majority of cases.

Conservative treatment of early carcinoma of the breast: significance of axillary dissection and iridium implant.

One hundred and ninety five patients with T1T2 less than 3 cm N0 infiltrating carcinomas of the breast have been treated between 1973 and 1982 with local excision followed by cobalt irradiation and iridium boost. One hundred and sixty five underwent an elective axillary dissection. The overall survival at 5 years is 87% and the NED survival 81%. The size of the tumor on the mammogram and on the operative specimen is of significant prognostic value. At 5 years the probability of local relapse in the breast is 4% and the probability of axillary recurrence is 1.2% after axillary dissection. Comparison of these results with those of an historical group of 300 patients treated between 1950 and 1973 indicates an improvement in the local control with good cosmetic results and no obvious change in axillary recurrence and overall survival.

A new approach to the management of epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal.

Until recently most squamous cell carcinomas of the anal canal were treated by radical surgery. Radiation therapy was only considered for palliation in case of inoperable tumors. Important progress has been made in the knowledge of the natural history of the disease and in the field of radiotherapy. Anal canal squamous cell carcinoma should not be treated any longer by the same procedure as adenocarcinoma of the lower rectum, because both these diseases differ markedly. Multimodality therapy with radiotherapy as first approach has been considered. This series of 121 cases treated since 1971 and followed more than three years suggests that three protocols based on irradiation followed or not by surgery should be used according to the extent of the disease. Of the 72 patients with resectable tumor, the five-year survival rate was 65%. Three-quarters of the patients cured had normal anal function. The rate of death from cancer was 18%. The method requires an accurate assessment of the extent of the tumor and of its pelvic lymphatic spread. Great care must be taken in planning treatment in a close cooperation between radiotherapist and surgeon.

[Interstitial curietherapy with iridium 192 applied to small cancers of the rectum (author's transl)]. / La curiethérapie interstitielle à l'iridium 192, appliquée aux petits cancers du rectum

Intracavity irradiation aimed at curing cancers of the rectum mainly calls on contact radiotherapy but also on interstitial curietherapy. Iridium curietherapy has replaced Radium-therapy owing to the better homogeneousness of its' action and precise method of assay. It uses a 2 pronged fork containing 2 Iridium wires which can be very simply placed in position. It is applied on the one hand to the base of the ulcerated tumour, after abraision by contactotherapy and on the other hand as a method of prophylactic irradiation after exeresis of a malignant or degenerated polyp where the scar is badly adapted to contacto-therapy.