Comparison study of three irradiation methods for postoperative stage II and III breast cancer

Objective: To evaluate the proper radiotherapy methods for postoperative stageⅡand III breast cancer in receiving radiotherapy on the chest wall and upper clavicle area. Methods: Total of 156 cases were divided into three groups according to different radiotherapy methods. Group A was given full rang electron-radiotherapy of 50Gy/25f.Group B and C were respectively given 18Gy/9f of four fields intensity modulated radiotherapy and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy after conventional electron-radiotherapy of 32Gy/16f. The effect and side effect were compared. Results: There were no statistical differences in the incidence of radioactive dermatitis and rate of chest wall recurrence in three groups (P0.05). There were statistical differences in the occurrence of radiation- induced lung injury(P0.05) and rate of distant metastasis in three groups (P0.01). The occurrence of radiation-induced lung injury was lowest in group B and group A was the highest.For distant metastasis rate, the group B was the lowest and there were no differences between group A and group C. Conclusion: The three radiotherapy methods have same incidence of radioactive dermatitis and local recurrence rate . Conventional and four fields intensity modulated radiotherapy is able to significantly decrease the occurrence of radiation-induced lung injury. The role of controlling distant metastasis is unclear.