Dr. McCloskey on Postoperative Radiation in Patients With Breast Cancer

Susan A. McCloskey, MD, MSHS, assistant professor of radiation oncology, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the evolution of postoperative radiation in patients with breast cancer.

McCloskey says that in recent years, the many advances across radiation oncology have been striking. In women with early-stage disease with carcinoma in situ, physicians have identified the subsets of women who have smaller incremental benefits and can potentially benefit from the omission of radiation therapy. Physicians have come a long way in informing postmastectomy radiation recommendations. If anything, physicians are using radiation a little bit more, but thinking about it more in terms of tailoring treatment to risk factors, individualized decision making, and patient preferences, notes McCloskey.

Several studies have helped tailor recommendations. Two New England Journal of Medicine articles were published looking at regional nodal radiation. Having those articles come out has really helped physicians tailor how much radiation to give and which areas are treated, notes McCloskey.