Durable Palliation Of Breast Cancer Chest Wall Recurrence With Radiation Therapy, Hyperthermia, And Chemotherapy

Background and purpose: Chest wall recurrences of breast cancer are a therapeutic challenge and durable local control is difficult to achieve. Our objective was to determine the local progression free survival (LPFS) and toxicity of thermochemoradiotherapy (ThChRT) for chest wall recurrence.Methods: Twenty-seven patients received ThChRT for chest wall failure from 2/1995 to 6/2007 and make up this retrospective series. All received concurrent superficial hyperthermia twice weekly (median 8 sessions), chemotherapy (capecitabine in 21, vinorelbine in 2, and paclitaxel in 4), and radiation (median 45 Gy). Patients were followed up every 1.5-3 months and responses were graded with RECIST criteria and toxicities with the NCI CTC v4.0.Results: Twenty-three (85%) patients were previously irradiated (median 60.4 Gy) and 22 (81%) patients received prior chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 11 months. Complete response (CR) was achieved in 16/20(80%) of patients with follow-up data, and 1 year LPFS was 76%. Overall survival was 23 months for patients with CR, and 5.4 months in patients achieving a partial response (PR) (p = 0.01). Twenty-two patients experienced acute grade 1/2 treatment related toxicities, primarily moist desquamation. Two patients experienced 3rd degree burns; all resolved with conservative measures.Conclusions: ThChRT offers durable palliation and prolonged LPFS with tolerable acute toxicity, especially if CR is achieved. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Radiotherapy and Oncology 97 (2010) 535-540