International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
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Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. · Jul 1993
Regional nodal management and patterns of failure following conservative surgery and radiation therapy for stage I and II breast cancer.
To determine the incidence, pattern of regional nodal failure, and treatment sequelae as determined by the extent of lymphatic irradiation. ⋯ There is little justification for axillary or supraclavicular irradiation following an axillary dissection which yields negative or minimally involved (1 to 3 positive) lymph nodes. There were too few patients with extensive axillary node metastases (> or = 4 positive) in our series to draw conclusions about the optimal extent of nodal irradiation in this subset. Elective internal mammary lymph node irradiation increases technical complexity, does not appear to be advantageous, and when combined with supraclavicular irradiation places the patient at highest risk for pneumonitis.