[Radiation treatment of metastatic breast cancer]

Breast cancer is rather radiosensitive. A total dose of 40-50 Gy (TDF about 80) is usually sufficient to control most metastatic breast cancer tumors. Radiation treatment should be applied to control tumors which are less responsive to chemo-endocrine therapy, i.e., large tumors or brain metastasis. Five-year survival rates after the start of radiation therapy to the first development of recurrence were 2/16 for local recurrence, 2/5 for supraclavicular node recurrence, 5/16 for bone recurrence and 1/4 for pulmonary recurrence, respectively. The quality of the remaining life of the patient should be the most important factor in deciding radiation treatment.