Clinical Observation of Postoperative Hypofractionated Radiotherapy to Chest Wall in Breast Cancer

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and adverse effects of postoperative hypofractionated radiotherapy to chest wall in breast cancer.Methods 106 treatment-naive patients with stage Ⅱ or Ⅲ(UICC,1989)breast cancer were treated by radical mastectomy and postoperative radiotherapy.Hypofractionated radiotherapy using 6 Mev electronic line to chest wall was delivered as 39.6 Gy with a 3.6 Gy dose fraction per day,3 days per week,and lasting almost 4 weeks.Results All these patients were followed up for 61~160 months.Median follow-up time was 106.7 months.The 5-year chest wall recurrence rate was 6.6%(7/106),the 5-year tumor-free survival rate was 67.9%(72/106),the 5-year and 10-year overall survival rate were both 74.5%(79/106).At the same time,the incidence of acute skin reaction and later lung fibrosis were 4.7%(5/106) and 5.1%(4/78) respectively.Conclusion Postoperative hypofractionated radiotherapy to chest wall in breast cancer can acquire the same clinical effect as conventionally fractionated radiotherapy,without aggravating the side effect.