Key clinical point: In older women with stage I hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, radiation without endocrine therapy does not increase the risk for second breast cancer events (SBCE).
Major finding: Compared with endocrine therapy plus radiotherapy, radiotherapy alone was not associated with a higher risk for SBCE ( P = .137), whereas no therapy (standardized hazard ratio [SHR], 3.7; P less than .001) or endocrine therapy (SHR, 2.2; P = .008) alone was associated with higher risk for SBCE.
Study details: A retrospective study of 13,321 women aged 66 years and older with stage I HR-positive breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery between 2007 and 2012.
Disclosures: The study received funding from the Department of Radiation Oncology, NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Deb received personal fees from the NYU School of Medicine. The other authors did not disclose any conflicts of interest.
Source: Gerber NK et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.04.030.