Partial Breast Radiation

Purpose of Review Following breast-conserving surgery, adjuvant radiation has traditionally been delivered using whole breast irradiation (WBI). Over the past several decades, multiple studies have evaluated the role of smaller target volumes for adjuvant radiation therapy delivered with partial breast irradiation (PBI) or intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) techniques. The intent of this review is to provide an update on the role of PBI and IORT given recently published studies. Recent Findings Multiple randomized trials evaluating PBI have been published with mature outcomes, demonstrating comparable rates of local recurrence to WBI at 10 years. IORT has been shown to have increased rates of local recurrence in the ELIOT and TARGIT-A trials; unfortunately, the TARGIT-A study has failed to provide long-term outcomes for all IORT patients together or long-term rates of local recurrence (only local recurrence-free survival). Summary Data support utilization of PBI for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery. In contrast, IORT studies have demonstrated elevated rates of local recurrence and should not be utilized outside of prospective studies.