[ad_1]
Two recent British studies have paved the way for a significant improvement in the management of breast cancer in some women in France, by reducing the duration of radiotherapy to five days instead of the few weeks usually required.
Danielle (a pseudonym) considers that she was “very lucky” in her ordeal. In June, a “small tumor within 7 millimeters in size” was detected, which was found to be cancerous after a biopsy.
The appointments have since continued, with an operation in July at the Gustave Roussy Institute (the largest cancer center in Europe located near Paris) and a consultation with a surgeon in August then a radiotherapy specialist in early September. . That same evening, she had her first radiation therapy session, followed by four more sessions over a week.
breast cancer
Danielle has benefited from a new “compact” radiotherapy course which reduces the number of postoperative sessions while maintaining the same effectiveness.
This therapeutic approach is not yet applicable to all women today. It is offered at the Institut Gustave Roussy to people over 60 years of age with an unconfined ganglion cell carcinoma and they represent more than 50% of all breast cancers diagnosed in France.
This new approach was adopted at the French hospital in February, after the release of two British studies in 2020 which showed the effectiveness of this treatment. The cases of relapse are the same in the traditional approach and that based on the reduction of radiotherapy sessions after the operation.
A 10-year study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reinforced the results of two different radiation therapy treatments for women with limited-spread cancer. A first category underwent twenty-five sessions spread over five weeks, while a second category of women underwent one session per week for five weeks.
The study concluded that there was no difference in the results of the treatment in terms of efficacy and side effects.
A second study, details of which have been published in The Lancet Oncology, focused on a comparison between a popular approach based on 15 sessions in three weeks and a new one limited to five sessions in five days. The study found no difference between the two approaches.
Based on these two studies, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, European radiology experts have come together to promote this accelerated approach.
“In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, it is very fair that women come to the hospital with as few visits as possible,” said Dr Sofia Rivera, head of the radiology department at the Gustave Rossi institute.
Source link
