After Mapping Of The Axilla: Radiotherapy Or Surgery
After Mapping Of The Axilla: Radiotherapy Or Surgery
RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells and may be a less invasive treatment and cause fewer side effects than complete axillary lymph node dissection. It is not yet known which treatment is more effective for invasive breast cancer.
PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of complete axillary lymph node dissection with that of axillary radiation therapy in treating women who have invasive breast cancer.
OBJECTIVES:
OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to participating center and type of breast surgery (conservation vs total mastectomy). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.
Patients are given an injection of a tracer and undergo lymphoscintigraphy 2-3 hours later to identify the sentinel lymph node. Within 24 hours after lymphoscintigraphy, patients undergo wide local excision of the tumor or mastectomy after the sentinel node is removed. If no sentinel node is found or metastasis is found in a nonsentinel node, patients undergo complete axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) regardless of randomization. Sentinel node-negative patients receive no further treatment. Sentinel node-positive patients continue treatment according to randomization.
Patients in arm I may receive postoperative axillary irradiation if 4 or more nodes are positive and more than 1 axillary level is involved.
Quality of life is assessed at baseline and then at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years.
Patients are followed annually for 5 years.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 3,485 patients (1,394 sentinel node-positive and 2,091 sentinel node-negative) will be accrued for this study within 3 years.
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
Histologically or "triple diagnosis" (palpation, mammogram or ultrasound, and cytology) confirmed operable invasive breast cancer
Only 1 tumor in 1 breast
Tumor between 5 and 50 mm in largest diameter, within 1 quadrant by mammogram, ultrasound or MRI
Clinically negative axillary lymph nodes
No metastatic disease
No previous treatment of the primary breast tumor by neoadjuvant hormonal or systemic treatment
Hormone receptor status:
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
Age:
Sex:
Menopausal status:
Performance status:
Life expectancy:
Hematopoietic:
Hepatic:
Renal:
Other:
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
Biologic therapy:
Chemotherapy:
Endocrine therapy:
Radiotherapy:
Surgery:
Other: