Concurrent radiochemotherapy in advanced breast cancer

An initial trial to determine whether the theoretical advantage of concurrent systemic chemotherapeutic protection and local control (by radiation) could be achieved has been applied to 16 patients with breast cancer (Stage 3 and 4). CMFP/CMF combination chemotherapy has been administered with external irradiation (5000 rad breast, 4000-4400 rad nodes). External irradiation was successfully accomplished with tangenital fields to avoid combined modality esophagitis while achieving internal mammary node irradiation. Six patients subsequently received Iridium-192 interstitial implantation. Six patients treated preoperatively (4000 rad, breast) were able to have modified mastectomy within 3-6 weeks of completing radiation therapy without graft requirement or undue morbidity. Acute reactions during therapy included some amplification of epidermitis and myelosuppression. Prolongation of the radiation treatment course occurred in two patients and delay in chemotherapy cycles in four patients. In two patients, the leukocyte count nadir was below 1000 and one was hospitalized with fever. The majority of the patients achieved 75% of the designed chemotherapeutic doses in the ensuing year. Many of the patients with advanced disease were administered an Adriamycin-containing regimen upon completion of the radiation therapy. The current results suggest that it would be feasible to initiate a randomized prospective study using these techniques to compare sequential and concomitant chemo-radiation therapy in primary breast cancer to determine whether there is significant advantage in local control and duration of NED survival in either of the treatment regimens.