Toxicity and Outcome of Whole Breast Hypofractionated Radiotherapy: a Single Institution Experience (Ipomammella)

Toxicity and Outcome of Whole Breast Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Without Boost: Results of a Homogeneous Single Institution Experience

This is a homogeneous, single institution, observational, non-interventional, prospective study of 500 patients who will be treated according to the standard protocol of adjuvant hypofractionated radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery, at a total dose of 40 Gy/ 15 fr (5 fr/ week, 3 consecutive weeks). In addition to the regular follow up, the patients will respond to the quality-of-life questionnaires (QLQ) of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), general, QLQ- C30, and specific for breast (BR), QLQ- BR23, at the first visit, at the end of radiotherapy and at the subsequent follow-up visits from 6 months up to 5 and a half years, to evaluate the quality of life during and after the treatment. The study also has a retrospective arm of approximately 1300 patients, treated from January 2009, for whom disease control and toxicity will be evaluated.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Quality of Life; Breast Cancer; Radiotherapy; Adverse Effect, Dermatitis or Eczema
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Quality of life measurement

Detailed Description

The study is observational, homogeneous (performed in a single institution), non-interventional, and composed of two parts: one retrospective and one prospective (for which we request the registration in the register of clinical trials).

The patients with breast cancer treated with adjuvant hypofractionated radiotherapy at the Department of Radiotherapy of "San Raffaele Scientific Institute" (IRCCSSRaffaele) from January 2009 will be identified and their clinical and dosimetric data retrieved and analyzed.

The objectives of the retrospective arm of the study are the analysis, with a follow up of 5 years, of acute and late toxicity, and clinical outcomes, such as local and regional control, overall survival, disease free survival and cancer-specific survival. A secondary objective is the identification of prognostic factors for toxicity and disease progression.

The objective of the prospective arm of the study, for a cohort of 500 consecutive patients who agree to participate in the study, is to assess the quality of life of the patients treated with hypofractionated short course (3 weeks) radiotherapy. The quality-of-life questionnaires (QLQ) of the European organization for research and treatment of cancer (EORTC): QLQ-C30 (general) and QLQ-BR23 (specific for the breast), will be distributed before radiation treatment, at the time of patient enrollment, at the end of therapy and during the follow up visits, for a duration of 5 years after the first follow up, scheduled first at 6 months and then annually.

Given the non-interventional, observational nature of the study, the follow up program of the patients with breast cancer, treated according to the standard departmental protocol, will not be modified. The patients will be identified from the patient data base from medical records retrieved from the radiotherapy archive, and the images monitoring local evolution from the photo archive. The data will be extracted from medical records. In addition, the dosimetric data of the treatments will be recovered from the physical dosimetric archives and the extrapolated data will be correlated with clinical and toxicity outcomes.

For the patients of the prospective observational arm, the dosimetric data and quality of life questionnaires, as well as the follow up visit results, will be prospectively collected, registered in a data base, and subsequently analyzed.

The toxicity registered during the visits carried out during the treatment will be determined using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scale; the Scoring system of late effects of radiation on normal tissues (SOMA-LENT scale) will be used for toxicity registered during the follow up visits. The clinical points analyzed will include: quality of life, overall survival, disease free- and cancer specific-survival, local and regional control, distant metastasis free survival, acute and late toxicity, physical dosimetry and aesthetic results. The correlation between detected parameters will be evaluated for the identification of prognostic factors. Statistical analyses will be performed with SPSS software version 17.0 (SPSS Inc. Released 2008; SPSS Statistic for Windows, Version 17.0. Chicago, USA: SPSS Inc.) and MedCalc v.12.1.4.0 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium) and any updated version. Statistical tests to be used will include: uni- and multi-variate logistic regression to define predictors of incidence and prevalence of toxicity and local/ distant relapses; Cox model ( proportionally-hazard regression) uni- and multi-variate for actuarial analysis of predictors of toxicity and local/ distant relapses; Wilcoxon matched -pair test for the quality of life index variations; Spearman test for the correlation between continuous variables, ANOVA test for the effect of treatment variables on changes in QoL scores over time.

*Enrollment in the quality-of-life study was suspended in November 2021 due to patients' refusal to participate during the Sars-Cov2 pandemic, the adoption of shorter schedule protocols to minimize patient hospital visits, the adoption of a simultaneous integrated boost for patients with high risk of local relapse(TNBC, HER2+) requiring a change in the technique utilized.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 410

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • MI
    • Milan, MI, Italy, 20132
      • San Raffaele Scientific Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery, and whole breast hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Breast cancer patients with TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours pathological stage T1-T2, N0-N1a (pathologically node negative - up to three positive lymph-nodes), treated with conservative surgery and whole breast hypofractionated radiotherapy without boost

Exclusion Criteria:

• male breast cancer patients
• breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery and partial breast irradiation, relapsed, and treated with adjuvant whole breast radiotherapy after salvage conservative surgery
• breast cancer patients treated with mastectomy
• patients with TNM pathologic stage N1a treated with whole breast radiotherapy and supraclavicular fossa +/- axillary radiotherapy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Quality of life; Quality of life of breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery (quadrantectomy) and adjuvant hypofractionated whole breast radiotherapy according to the institutional standard regimen, to a total dose of 40 Gy in 15 fraction over 3 weeks will be measured with EORTC quality of life questionnaires QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23, before the start of the radiotherapy, at the end of the radiotherapy and subsequently at every follow-up visit (the first at 6 months after the end of the treatment, then annually for 5 consecutive years after the first follow up visit).

Other: Quality of life measurement; The quality of life of breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery and adjuvant whole breast hypofractionated radiotherapy, without boost, will be evaluated.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
quality of life after hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy	degree of general quality of life worsening of patients treated with hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery assessed with EORTC quality of life questionnaires QLQ C30	up to 66 months
breast specific quality of life after hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy	degree of specific quality of life worsening of patients treated with hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery assessed with EORTC quality of life questionnaire QLQ BR23	up to 66 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
local control	percentage of patients without local relapse at five years	up to 66 months
regional control	percentage of patients without regional (axillary, supraclavicular) relapse at five years	up to 66 months
distant metastases free survival	percentage of patients without distant metastases at five years	up to 66 months
disease free survival	percentage of patients without local and/or distant progression at five years	up to 66 months
cancer specific survival	percentage of patients who have not died from breast cancer at five years	up to 66 months
overall survival	percentage of patients alive at five years	up to 66 months
acute toxicity	acute toxicity after hypofractionated whole breast adjuvant radiotherapy evaluated with Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scale at 5 years	up to 66 months
late toxicity	late toxicity after hypofractionated whole breast adjuvant radiotherapy evaluated with Scoring systems of late effects of radiations on normal tissues SOMA-LENT scale at 5 years	up to 66 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
aesthetic result	assessment of the effect of radiation therapy with photographs taken the day of treatment planning verification (before the first radiotherapy fraction), after 15 fractions of radiotherapy (at the end of radiation therapy), and during follow-up visits (the first 6 months after the end of radiotherapy and than at 18 months, 30 months, 42 months, 54 months and 66 months after the end of radiotherapy).	up to 66 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: IRCCS San Raffaele
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Andrei Fodor, M.D., IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Fisher B, Anderson S, Bryant J, Margolese RG, Deutsch M, Fisher ER, Jeong JH, Wolmark N. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized trial comparing total mastectomy, lumpectomy, and lumpectomy plus irradiation for the treatment of invasive breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2002 Oct 17;347(16):1233-41. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa022152.
• Veronesi U, Cascinelli N, Mariani L, Greco M, Saccozzi R, Luini A, Aguilar M, Marubini E. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized study comparing breast-conserving surgery with radical mastectomy for early breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2002 Oct 17;347(16):1227-32. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa020989.
• AIRTUM Working Group. Italian cancer figures, report 2009: Cancer trend (1998-2005). Epidemiol Prev. 2009 Jul-Oct;33(4-5 Suppl 1):1-168. English, Italian.
• Ferlay J, Parkin DM, Steliarova-Foucher E. Estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 2008. Eur J Cancer. 2010 Mar;46(4):765-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2009.12.014. Epub 2010 Jan 29.
• http://www.istat.it/dati/dataset/20100129_00/
• Crocetti E; Airtum Working Group. [Numbers. Cancer survival in Italy is within the European average]. Epidemiol Prev. 2008 Jul-Oct;32(4-5):265. No abstract available. Italian.
• Airtum Working Group. [Numbers (Airtum Working Group). Survival prospects change with time]. Epidemiol Prev. 2008 May-Jun;32(3):136. No abstract available. Italian.
• Gotzsche PC, Nielsen M. Screening for breast cancer with mammography. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Oct 18;(4):CD001877. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001877.pub2.
• Agarwal S, Pappas L, Neumayer L, Kokeny K, Agarwal J. Effect of breast conservation therapy vs mastectomy on disease-specific survival for early-stage breast cancer. JAMA Surg. 2014 Mar;149(3):267-74. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2013.3049.
• Vinh-Hung V, Verschraegen C. Breast-conserving surgery with or without radiotherapy: pooled-analysis for risks of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence and mortality. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004 Jan 21;96(2):115-21. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djh013.
• Van de Steene J, Soete G, Storme G. Adjuvant radiotherapy for breast cancer significantly improves overall survival: the missing link. Radiother Oncol. 2000 Jun;55(3):263-72. doi: 10.1016/s0167-8140(00)00204-8.
• Clarke M, Collins R, Darby S, Davies C, Elphinstone P, Evans V, Godwin J, Gray R, Hicks C, James S, MacKinnon E, McGale P, McHugh T, Peto R, Taylor C, Wang Y; Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG). Effects of radiotherapy and of differences in the extent of surgery for early breast cancer on local recurrence and 15-year survival: an overview of the randomised trials. Lancet. 2005 Dec 17;366(9503):2087-106. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67887-7.
• Veronesi U, Orecchia R, Maisonneuve P, Viale G, Rotmensz N, Sangalli C, Luini A, Veronesi P, Galimberti V, Zurrida S, Leonardi MC, Lazzari R, Cattani F, Gentilini O, Intra M, Caldarella P, Ballardini B. Intraoperative radiotherapy versus external radiotherapy for early breast cancer (ELIOT): a randomised controlled equivalence trial. Lancet Oncol. 2013 Dec;14(13):1269-77. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70497-2. Epub 2013 Nov 11.
• Vaidya JS, Wenz F, Bulsara M, Tobias JS, Joseph DJ, Keshtgar M, Flyger HL, Massarut S, Alvarado M, Saunders C, Eiermann W, Metaxas M, Sperk E, Sutterlin M, Brown D, Esserman L, Roncadin M, Thompson A, Dewar JA, Holtveg HM, Pigorsch S, Falzon M, Harris E, Matthews A, Brew-Graves C, Potyka I, Corica T, Williams NR, Baum M; TARGIT trialists' group. Risk-adapted targeted intraoperative radiotherapy versus whole-breast radiotherapy for breast cancer: 5-year results for local control and overall survival from the TARGIT-A randomised trial. Lancet. 2014 Feb 15;383(9917):603-13. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61950-9. Epub 2013 Nov 11. Erratum In: Lancet. 2014 Feb 15;383(9917):602.
• Veronesi U, Luini A, Del Vecchio M, Greco M, Galimberti V, Merson M, Rilke F, Sacchini V, Saccozzi R, Savio T, et al. Radiotherapy after breast-preserving surgery in women with localized cancer of the breast. N Engl J Med. 1993 Jun 3;328(22):1587-91. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199306033282202.
• Romestaing P, Lehingue Y, Carrie C, Coquard R, Montbarbon X, Ardiet JM, Mamelle N, Gerard JP. Role of a 10-Gy boost in the conservative treatment of early breast cancer: results of a randomized clinical trial in Lyon, France. J Clin Oncol. 1997 Mar;15(3):963-8. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1997.15.3.963.
• Bartelink H, Horiot JC, Poortmans PM, Struikmans H, Van den Bogaert W, Fourquet A, Jager JJ, Hoogenraad WJ, Oei SB, Warlam-Rodenhuis CC, Pierart M, Collette L. Impact of a higher radiation dose on local control and survival in breast-conserving therapy of early breast cancer: 10-year results of the randomized boost versus no boost EORTC 22881-10882 trial. J Clin Oncol. 2007 Aug 1;25(22):3259-65. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.11.4991. Epub 2007 Jun 18.
• Whelan T, MacKenzie R, Julian J, Levine M, Shelley W, Grimard L, Lada B, Lukka H, Perera F, Fyles A, Laukkanen E, Gulavita S, Benk V, Szechtman B. Randomized trial of breast irradiation schedules after lumpectomy for women with lymph node-negative breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002 Aug 7;94(15):1143-50. doi: 10.1093/jnci/94.15.1143.
• Haviland JS, Owen JR, Dewar JA, Agrawal RK, Barrett J, Barrett-Lee PJ, Dobbs HJ, Hopwood P, Lawton PA, Magee BJ, Mills J, Simmons S, Sydenham MA, Venables K, Bliss JM, Yarnold JR; START Trialists' Group. The UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) trials of radiotherapy hypofractionation for treatment of early breast cancer: 10-year follow-up results of two randomised controlled trials. Lancet Oncol. 2013 Oct;14(11):1086-1094. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70386-3. Epub 2013 Sep 19.
• Janssen S, Glanzmann C, Lang S, Verlaan S, Streller T, Wisler D, Linsenmeier C, Studer G. Hypofractionated radiotherapy for breast cancer acceleration of the START A treatment regime: intermediate tolerance and efficacy. Radiat Oncol. 2014 Jul 24;9:165. doi: 10.1186/1748-717X-9-165.
• Poortmans PM, Collette L, Horiot JC, Van den Bogaert WF, Fourquet A, Kuten A, Noordijk EM, Hoogenraad W, Mirimanoff RO, Pierart M, Van Limbergen E, Bartelink H; EORTC Radiation Oncology and Breast Cancer Groups. Impact of the boost dose of 10 Gy versus 26 Gy in patients with early stage breast cancer after a microscopically incomplete lumpectomy: 10-year results of the randomised EORTC boost trial. Radiother Oncol. 2009 Jan;90(1):80-5. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2008.07.011. Epub 2008 Aug 15.
• Bartelink H, Maingon P, Poortmans P, Weltens C, Fourquet A, Jager J, Schinagl D, Oei B, Rodenhuis C, Horiot JC, Struikmans H, Van Limbergen E, Kirova Y, Elkhuizen P, Bongartz R, Miralbell R, Morgan D, Dubois JB, Remouchamps V, Mirimanoff RO, Collette S, Collette L; European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Radiation Oncology and Breast Cancer Groups. Whole-breast irradiation with or without a boost for patients treated with breast-conserving surgery for early breast cancer: 20-year follow-up of a randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2015 Jan;16(1):47-56. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71156-8. Epub 2014 Dec 9. Erratum In: Lancet Oncol. 2015 Jan;16(1):e6.
• Morgan DA, Robertson JF. Boost or not. J Clin Oncol. 2008 Feb 20;26(6):1013-4; author reply 1014. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.15.2017. No abstract available.
• https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines
• Fodor A, Brombin C, Mangili P, Tummineri R, Pasetti M, Zerbetto F, Longobardi B, Galvan AS, Deantoni CL, Dell'Oca I, Castriconi R, Esposito PG, Deli AM, Rancoita PMV, Fiorino C, Vecchio AD, Di Serio MS, Di Muzio NG. Toxicity of Hypofractionated Whole Breast Radiotherapy Without Boost and Timescale of Late Skin Responses in a Large Cohort of Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients. Clin Breast Cancer. 2022 Jun;22(4):e480-e487. doi: 10.1016/j.clbc.2021.11.008. Epub 2021 Dec 1.
• Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG); Darby S, McGale P, Correa C, Taylor C, Arriagada R, Clarke M, Cutter D, Davies C, Ewertz M, Godwin J, Gray R, Pierce L, Whelan T, Wang Y, Peto R. Effect of radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery on 10-year recurrence and 15-year breast cancer death: meta-analysis of individual patient data for 10,801 women in 17 randomised trials. Lancet. 2011 Nov 12;378(9804):1707-16. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61629-2. Epub 2011 Oct 19.
• START Trialists' Group; Bentzen SM, Agrawal RK, Aird EG, Barrett JM, Barrett-Lee PJ, Bliss JM, Brown J, Dewar JA, Dobbs HJ, Haviland JS, Hoskin PJ, Hopwood P, Lawton PA, Magee BJ, Mills J, Morgan DA, Owen JR, Simmons S, Sumo G, Sydenham MA, Venables K, Yarnold JR. The UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) Trial A of radiotherapy hypofractionation for treatment of early breast cancer: a randomised trial. Lancet Oncol. 2008 Apr;9(4):331-41. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(08)70077-9. Epub 2008 Mar 19.
• START Trialists' Group; Bentzen SM, Agrawal RK, Aird EG, Barrett JM, Barrett-Lee PJ, Bentzen SM, Bliss JM, Brown J, Dewar JA, Dobbs HJ, Haviland JS, Hoskin PJ, Hopwood P, Lawton PA, Magee BJ, Mills J, Morgan DA, Owen JR, Simmons S, Sumo G, Sydenham MA, Venables K, Yarnold JR. The UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) Trial B of radiotherapy hypofractionation for treatment of early breast cancer: a randomised trial. Lancet. 2008 Mar 29;371(9618):1098-107. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60348-7. Epub 2008 Mar 19.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 16, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): March 10, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 22, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 20, 2023
• Last Verified: June 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: breast cancer; quality of life; hypofractionated whole breast radiotherapy; conservative treatment
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Diseases; Dermatitis
• Other Study ID Numbers: Ipomammella

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual Participant Data will not be shared with other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No