RADIATION THERAPY FOR BREAST CANCER
A Patient’s Guide to Understanding Treatment

Types of Breast Cancer

The breast is made up of ducts and lobules surrounded by fatty tissue.

• Cancer confined within a duct is called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) is cells confined to a lobule.
• Tumors that break through the wall of the duct or lobule are called infiltrating ductal or infiltrating lobular carcinomas.
• Inflammatory breast cancer may involve the entire breast with specific skin changes and swelling.

Breast-Conserving Surgery

Studies have shown that women with early-stage breast cancer who have a lumpectomy to remove the cancer followed by radiation live just as long as women who have a mastectomy, and therefore the lumpectomy is preferred by many women. Typically, external beam radiation therapy follows breast-conserving surgery is. Often, radiation is done after chemotherapy.

• Your surgeon performs the lumpectomy, also called a partial mastectomy, excisional biopsy or tylectomy, and removes the tumor. In some cases, a second operation called a re-excision may be needed if microscopic examination finds tumor cells at or near the edge of the tissue that was removed (called a positive or close margin).
• Your doctor may remove several lymph nodes from under your arm (axilla) to see if your cancer has spread, If the nodes contain cancer cells, more nodes may be removed.
• Breast-conserving surgery is not possible for all breast cancer patients. Talk with your surgeon to determine the best procedure for you.

External Beam Radiation Therapy

External beam radiation therapy is given through a series of daily outpatient treatments that accurately deliver radiation to the breast.

• Painless radiation treatments are given in a series of daily sessions. Each treatment lasts less than 30 minutes, Monday through Friday, for five to seven weeks.
• The usual course of radiation treats only the breast, although sometimes the lymph nodes around the collarbone or the underarm area are treated.
• 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) combines multiple radiation treatment fields to deliver precise radiation doses to the breast while avoiding surrounding healthy tissue.
• Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is an advanced form of 3D-CRT that further varies the intensity of the radiation beams.
• Side effects may include skin irritation, like a mild to moderate sunburn, mild to moderate breast swelling and fatigue.

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