Radiation Duration for Stage 1- Question for you

ItalianMom · March 2011

My mother was diagnosed with Stage 1 Breast Cancer (tumor was removed in January) and today we met with the radiation oncologist to speak about radiation treatment. The radiation specialist suggested that she do 2 weeks of radiation which would be localized to the area of where the tumor was located (not the whole breast). He said this approach was new and is part of a research being done for women with early breast cancer (he said women have been part of this research for the past 10 -15 years and have had great results with just the 2 weeks of radiation) and he thought it would be the right approach with my mom. She does not have to be part of this research if she decides she doesn't want to and she can do the more traditional radiation treatment which would then be 6 weeks of radiation and it would be localized to the whole breast (not only the tumor location).

Now - Im a bit confused. He said he would support both treatments for my mom - but I am beginning to think that I would do the more traditional approach where the whole breast is treated with radiation for 6 weeks - not just the tumor location for 2 weeks.

As a specialist he just seemed to favor the research treatment of treating her for 2 weeks and thought that was sufficient being that she was in the early stage.

I know everyone's case is different but I am just curious to know what you chose for your treatment option for early breast cancer stage 1.

We are going to make a decision next week and ultimately i want my mom to be happy and with whatever option she chooses. I just never heard of anyone that did 2 weeks of radiation although as compared to 6 weeks - it does seem pretty good.....

YramAL · March 2011

Italian mom-I did not have the choice between 2 weeks vs. 6 weeks of radiation, but I am bumping this up for you so that maybe someone else with that choice can help you. I was stage 1 and had the traditional 6 weeks(33 treatments) of radiation.

Mary

Raili · March 2011

Italianmom, that is a tough decision to make! I sadly don't have any advice or words of wisdom. I got the standard 6 weeks of radiation (I wasn't offered anything else), but I really struggled with it - I kept wondering, how does the radiation oncologist KNOW that I, personally, need 33 radiation treatments? What if I actually needed 8, or 40, or 0? No one could really know or say. It doesn't make sense to me that every woman needs 33 radiation treatments - surely some women are overtreated or undertreated this way. And when I expressed all of these frustrations and questions to my rad. onc., he agreed with me that no one really knows how many radiation treatments each individual woman needs (or if she needs any at all) and they just make their best guess/go with the standard of care.

One of the hardest parts of being diagnosed with breast cancer, for me, was all of the agonizing decisions I was constantly faced with, when I felt like there frequently was no real way of KNOWING. So I guess my advice is to help your mom make the best informed choice as possible, by examining the available information, but above all, recognize that with breast cancer, there are so many unknowns. Sometimes we have to just take that leap of faith/trust, and accept that sometimes the answer is "we don't know" and that's okay. Make the decisions thoughtfully and then try to not look back with doubt and second guesses...just keep moving forward.

That being said, I hope that other people here have more information for you about this new 2-weeks-of-radiation option. Maybe other women have chosen this, or maybe there are studies about it.

Anonymous · March 2011

Hmmm...I just got my pathology back yesterday and my DX seems very similar to yours, Raili. Pre-surgery, we were talking 4 to 5 weeks of radiation on the assumption I'd end up stage 1 (with the understanding we wouldn't have a plan until post-surgery). The "automatic 6 weeks for stage 1" thing is news to me! Neither have I heard anything about a study involving a 2-week treatment plan...

ItalianMom · March 2011

Thanks so much ladies for your input and courage and thoughfulness.

It is a very hard decision and ultimately its very personal and psychological - My mom really has to believe in her decisions and move forward - not look back - because regret could be here worst enemy.

RAILI - you said exactly what the radiation oncologist said - many woman are treated with the traditional care for radiation for this Stage and it may not always be necessary. No one really knows if a person is being overtreated or under. With this research they are beginning to see that woman have done exceptionally well with the 2 week radiation (which is localized to the area of where the tumor is located - NOT the whole breast)and ultimately with this research im suspecting that "one day" if women continue to take part in this study with good results - it may just became standard treatment.
We actually signed the papers to take part in this study (which would monitor my mother for 10 years) because that is what the specialist recommended - but after walking out of the building had second thoughts and re-entered the building to change our course of action to the traditional 6 week treatment.

So difficult and confusing. I know every case in different and initially our medical oncologist recommended 4 weeks of radiation - BUT it wasn't until we saw the radiation oncologist that he recommended the 2 week research radiation AND that he would also support my mother's decision if she decided to go for the 6 week treatment.

I never knew so many doctors were involved in this process and all are afiliated with the same hosiptal.

Still curious as he said the research treatment has been available for 10- 15 years if anyone has taken part in it......this is all new to me as well.

Radiation Duration for Stage 1- Question for you

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