Survival In Patients With Early Breast Cancer Treated With Conservative Surgery And Radiotherapy At The National Cancer Institute Of Colombia

Objective: To evaluate the results of patients with early breast cancer treated with conservative surgery and teletherapy in the Department of Radiotherapy at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) between 2003 and 2004. Methods: Research was based upon a retrospective sequential case study. Descriptive analysis included the application of summarized measurement and survival methods. Results: Seventy-ive patients with early breast cancer treated with conservative surgery in combination with teletherapy were included in the study. Overall survival at ive years was 92.9%, loco-regional relapse free survival was 88.4%, and disease free survival was 79.8%. Most patients were over 50, postmenopausal, with moderately diferentiated tumors of iniltrating ductal carcinoma and hormone receptor expression. The majority did not receive neoadjuvant therapy, had axilliary dissection on more than 10 lymph nodes with resection margins greater than one centimeter and adjuvant chemo and radiotherapy. A few patients underwent supraclavicular radiotherapy; the majority received overpressing. Hormone receptors and the nodal region were included among prognostic factors. Conclusion: Although the overall survival and disease free rates were similar to those reported elsewhere; loco-regional relapse free survival turned out to be lower. We recommend considering receptors as loco-regional prognosis factors and that tumor-free margin sections be assured in surgery.