Doctors Seeing Good Results With Shorter Breast Cancer Radiation Treatment

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's news no one wants to get.

"I got a phone call the Saturday before Christmas letting me know the biopsy was positive," Kristin Wolfe said.

Wolfe had breast cancer.

After a partial mastectomy, the next step was radiation, which could be daily for six to seven weeks.

The treatment itself is not hard or painful -- a woman lays on the table for 10 to 15 minutes daily for five days a week, and radiation beams target the breast tumor. The radiation interferes with the cancer cells multiplying.

But, this is usually after a long course of chemotherapy and surgery. Adding weeks of radiation can make the overall treatment nine months, or even a year long.

"That's where the tough part is. Because it's an emotional component to it that's fatiguing, there's a physical component that's fatiguing," radiation oncologist Dr. Mark Trombetta said.

Doctors in Europe and Canada have been using much shorter courses with results just as good as longer courses with less breast shrinkage and skin changes.

"In patients who have small tumors, and who have moderate or small breasts, that the outcomes, meaning cure rates, are exactly the same," Dr. Trombetta said.

These abbreviated schedules can be one week to three weeks.

Kristin, who is a professor, had a one-week course. She was able to squeeze it in over spring break.

"I thought it was the absolute best way to go, because it was five days, and not six weeks or three months," she said.

"Since the shorter regimens have been developed, patients love them," Dr. Trombetta said.

But, you can't get this everywhere. While 50 percent of patients at Allegheny General Hospital receive the briefer option, nationally it's only 22 percent at teaching hospitals, and even less elsewhere.

Part of this is because old habits are hard to break, and fewer treatments mean less reimbursement.

"In this department, we're interested mainly in quality, and safety, and doing the right thing. And this is the right thing for patients," Dr. Trombetta said.

Kristin is convinced it was the right thing for her.

"I'm on the three-year let's see if it comes back. Other than that, I'm done treatment. The five days was all it was, which was fabulous," she said.

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