Early-stage breast cancer patients could benefit from less frequent radiotherapy doses

The results from a 10-year study examining the long-term safety of larger radiotherapy doses in smaller fractions compared to the standard regimen of daily radiation doses for 5 weeks has found similar low instances of side effects in early-stage breast cancer patients.The FAST trial – led by researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research (London, UK) and funded by Cancer Research UK – was initiated in 2004 to assess the potential benefit of a radiotherapy schedule consisting of increased doses over fewer sessions. The three-year results of the trial – published in 2011 – demonstrated that reducing the number of...