Quality of life results for accelerated partial breast irradiation with interstitial brachytherapy versus whole breast irradiation in early breast cancer after breast …

BackgroundPrevious results from the GEC-ESTRO trial showed that accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using multicatheter brachytherapy in the treatment of early breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery was non-inferior to whole-breast irradiation in terms of local control and overall survival. Here, we present 5-year results of patient-reported quality of life.MethodsWe did this randomised controlled phase 3 trial at 16 hospitals and medical centres in seven European countries. Patients aged 40 years or older with 0–IIA breast cancer were randomly assigned (1:1) after breast-conserving surgery (resection margins ≥2 mm) to receive either whole-breast irradiation of 50 Gy with a boost of 10 Gy or APBI using multicatheter brachytherapy. Randomisation was stratified by study centre, tumour type, and menopausal status, with a block size of ten and an automated dynamic algorithm. There was no masking …