Practical radiation oncology
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For well-selected elderly women who undergo segmental mastectomy for early-stage, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, hormonal therapy alone is emerging as an acceptable adjuvant therapy option since the initial publication of Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9343 study in 2004 and update in 2013. The rate of adoption of adjuvant hormonal therapy alone in lieu of radiation therapy (RT) and its associated patterns of care is not known in the United States and was the subject of this study. ⋯ This study assesses the patterns of care associated with the omission of RT in elderly women with early-stage breast cancer who received adjuvant hormonal therapy. Since the publication of major clinical trials, this strategy has been increasingly adopted. The strongest predictors of using this strategy included advanced patient age, high comorbidity score, and low-grade disease.