Key clinical point: Unlike partial breast irradiation (PBI), intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) was associated with higher ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) rates than whole breast irradiation (WBI) in patients with early-stage breast cancer (BC) who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS).
Major finding: The risk for IBTR was comparable in patients treated with PBI and WBI (hazard ratio [HR] 1.20; P = .12) but was significantly higher in patients treated with IORT vs WBI (HR 1.46; P < .01).
Study details: Findings are from a meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials including 15,460 patients with early-stage BC who underwent BCS, of whom 7190 patients, 4931 patients, and 2372 patients received WBI, PBI, and IORT, respectively.
Disclosures: This study did not receive any specific funding. Some authors declared serving as consultants for or receiving grants from various sources.
Source: Ravani LV et al. Comparison of partial-breast irradiation and intraoperative radiation to whole-breast irradiation in early-stage breast cancer patients: A Kaplan-Meier-derived patient data meta-analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2023 (Sep 22). doi: 10.1007/s10549-023-07112-w
