Prospective Comparison Of Late Toxicity And Cosmetic Outcome After Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation With Conformal External Beam Radiotherapy Or Single-Entry Multi-Lumen Intracavitary Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy APBI is associated with higher rates of grade 1 fibrosis and seroma than 3D-CRT but lower rates of grade 1 edema and grade 2-3 pain than 3D-CRT. Rates of radiation oncologist-reported "fair" or "poor" cosmetic outcome are higher with brachytherapy. We identified dosimetric parameters that predict reduced risk of adverse cosmetic outcome after brachytherapy-based APBI. Ipsilateral breast recurrence was equivalent for brachytherapy and 3D-CRT.