Safety and feasibility of breast conserving therapy in Indian women: two decades of experience at Tata Memorial Hospital.

Purpose: The NIH consensus statement on the management of breast cancer has highlighted the paucity of outcome data in non-Caucasian women. Treatment outcome and factors determining it in a large cohort of ethnic Indian women treated with breast conserving therapy (BCT) at Tata Memorial Hospital are reported here.

Materials And Methods: During 1980-2000, 1,022 pathological Stage I/II breast cancer patients (median age 43 years) underwent BCT (wide excision, complete axillary clearance, whole breast radiotherapy with 6 MV photons plus tumor bed boost, +/-systemic therapy).

HDR brachytherapy combined with 3-D conformal vs. IMRT in left-sided breast cancer patients including internal mammary chain: comparative analysis of dosimetric and technical parameters.

Treatment of the internal mammary chain (IMC) with radiation therapy (RT) for patients with breast cancer remains a controversial issue. Different treatment techniques have been proposed, including oblique electrons, electron-photon combination, and partially wide tangents (PWTs). However, the residual heart dose can remain significant mainly for left-sided lesions.