What is the Optimal Sequence of Radiation in Stage I-III Breast Cancer?
The timing or sequence of radiation therapy may be important. A large clinical study has addressed the question of whether radiation therapy should be given before or after chemotherapy following breast-conserving surgery. Following breast-conserving surgery, half the patients were treated with chemotherapy followed by radiation and half were treated with radiation followed by chemotherapy. The patients treated with chemotherapy followed by radiation were more likely to be alive 5 years from treatment than patients treated with radiation followed by chemotherapy. Patients treated with chemotherapy survived longer because they were less likely to experience systemic (metastatic) recurrence of their cancer. Patients treated with radiation first, however, were less likely to experience a local recurrence of their cancer. It is much easier to treat local recurrence of cancer than systemic recurrence of cancer and this may explain why patients treated with chemotherapy followed by radiation
