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Doses
of radiation considered to be safe for the treatment of breast
cancer may lead to complications later in life, according
to researchers at Umeå University Hospital in Sweden.
Researchers
looked at the clinical records of 150 women with breast cancer
who were followed for 34 years. The women had been treated
with radiotherapy following mastectomy. None of the women
had been given chemotherapy as part of primary treatment.
The patients were divided into three groups according to the
dose of radiation they received.
Large
daily treatments of radiation in combination with hotspots
from overlapping fields were found to be the cause of complications
such as fibrosis, edema, brachial plexus neuropathy and paralysis,
the researchers reported in the International Journal of Radiation
Oncology, Biology and Physics.
The incidence
of complications seen at five years after treatment did not
represent the full spectrum of injuries.
"Doses
that seemed safe at five years can lead to serious complications
later," concluded the researchers.
Source:
Breast Cancer
Week of May 19, 2002
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