Three weeks of radiation therapy instead of five gives as good results, study finds

A study presented by a French oncologist at the ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) cancer congress in Barcelona is expected to change the situation for tens of thousands of patients.

A study will be a game changer for tens of thousands of women with breast cancer. It was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Cancer Congress, which is being held in Barcelona, ​​Spain, from Friday 13 to Tuesday 17 September and is bringing together 25 000 oncologists from around the world. The results of this trial led by a French oncologist validate a shorter radiotherapy treatment for these patients.

This announcement is expected to change the protocol for all patients with early-stage breast cancer, who represent the majority of the 61 000 new cases of breast cancer each year in France. Today, the recommended treatment for breast cancer that has not metastasized consists of five weeks of radiotherapy, or 25 sessions of radiation. By reducing the sessions to three weeks, with stronger rays, the treatment is much less heavy.

“When I was told three weeks instead of five weeks, I said yay, because frankly, we don’t realize, but these are efforts to be made also for your body, your mind, says Isabelle, 54, who benefited from this “condensed” radiotherapy. Knowing that in the morning, we have to get up despite being tired because we still have chemotherapy before. So we have to get up, order the taxi, wait for it, go through the session. These are already anxiety-provoking times.”

“When you’ve finished the session, you have to call the taxi back, wait for it again, whereas when you’re irradiated, you’re super tired.she continues. It’s not a big deal for others, but for me it was very important in my life not to have these two extra weeks. Bravo for this method, I hope everyone will have the right to it.”

The five-year study shows that three weeks of radiotherapy gives exactly the same results as five weeks. And everyone wins, according to the oncologist who led the trial, Dr. Sofia Rivera of the Gustave Roussy Institute. “We can offer patients a less restrictive treatment for the same effectiveness and no more toxicity. And then that means that for the health system, it is a less expensive radiotherapy which will potentially make it possible to shorten waiting lists and to treat other patients, whether they are patients with breast cancer or other cancers.”

“All women, whether they have lymph node involvement or not, can benefit from short-course radiotherapy; this is what really changes practices for the entire population.”

Sofia Rivera, oncologist at the Gustave Roussy Institute

to franceinfo

These results announced in Barcelona will push the authorities to reduce radiotherapy treatment for the tens of thousands of women affected by breast cancer each year in France.