Abstract
Background:
The purpose of this study was to examine the presentation, treatment, and prognosis
of patients with radiation-induced sarcomas after adjuvant radiotherapy for breast
cancer.
Methods
This was a retrospective review from 1975 to 2001 of patients who presented with a
sarcoma in an irradiated field after surgical treatment for breast cancer.
Results
Thirty-four women were included. Six had undergone breast-conserving therapy and 28
had mastectomy for primary breast carcinoma. All patients received postoperative radiation.
The mean time to diagnosis of sarcoma was 152 months (range 40 to 372). Twenty-three
of 34 patients (68%) had recurrence of the sarcoma after resection, and 22 patients
(65%) died of their disease. Patients with no evidence of disease at follow-up had
a mean tumor size of 4.2 cm ± 0.7 (n = 6), compared with 8.1 cm ± 1.2 (n = 10) for
patients who died of their disease (P = 0.030).
Conclusions
Radiation-induced sarcoma is a late complication of definitive treatment for breast
carcinoma. The prognosis of such patients is poor, with two thirds dying of their
disease. In the present series, improved survival was associated with smaller tumor
size at presentation.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Received in revised form:
May 27,
2002
Received:
May 6,
2002
Identification
Copyright
© 2002 Excerpta Medica Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
