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Background: Breast angiosarcoma is a rare disease mostly observed in breast cancer (BC) patients who have previously received radiotherapy (RT). Little is known about angiosarcoma aetiology, management, and outcome. The study aim was to estimate risk and to characterize breast angiosarcoma in a Swedish population-based cohort.

Methods: The Swedish Cancer Registry was searched for breast angiosarcoma between 1992 and 2018 in three Swedish healthcare regions (population 5.5 million). Information on previous BC, RT, management, and outcome were retrieved from medical records.

Results: Overall, 49 angiosarcomas located in the breast, chest wall, or axilla were identified, 8 primary and 41 secondary to BC treatment. Median age was 51 and 73 years, respectively. The minimum latency period of secondary angiosarcoma after a BC diagnosis was 4 years (range 4–21 years). The cumulative incidence of angiosarcoma after breast RT increased continuously, reaching 1.4‰ after 20 years. Among 44 women with angiosarcoma treated by surgery, 29 developed subsequent local recurrence. Median recurrence-free survival was 3.4 and 1.8 years for primary and secondary angiosarcoma, respectively. The 5-year overall survival probability for the whole cohort was 50 per cent (95 per cent c.i., 21 per cent–100 per cent) for primary breast angiosarcoma and 35 per cent (95 per cent c.i., 23 per cent–54 per cent) for secondary angiosarcoma.

Conclusion: Breast angiosarcoma is a rare disease strongly associated with a history of previous BC RT. Overall survival is poor with high rates of local recurrences and distant metastasis.

Purpose: To investigate if molecular subtype is associated with outcome in stage 1 breast cancer (BC). Methods: Tissue samples from 445 women with node-negative BC ≤ 15 mm, treated in 1986–2004, were classified into surrogate molecular subtypes [Luminal A-like, Luminal B-like (HER2−), HER2-positive, and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)]. Information on treatment, recurrences, and survival were gathered from medical records. Results: Tumour subtype was not associated with overall survival (OS). Luminal B-like (HER2−) and TNBC were associated with higher incidence of distant metastasis at 20 years (Hazard ratio (HR) 2.26; 95% CI 1.08–4.75 and HR 3.24; 95% CI 1.17–9.00, respectively). Luminal B-like (HER2−) and TNBC patients also had worse breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), although not statistically significant (HR 1.53; 95% CI 0.70–3.33 and HR 1.89; 95% CI 0.60–5.93, respectively). HER2-positive BC was not associated with poor outcome despite no patient receiving HER2-targeted therapy, with most of these tumours being ER+. Conclusions: Stage 1 TNBC or Luminal B-like (HER2−) tumours behave more aggressively. Women with HER2+/ER+ tumours do not have an increased risk of distant metastasis or death, absent targeted treatment.

Background: Studies identifying risk factors for death from breast cancer after ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are rare. In this retrospective nested case-control study, clinicopathological factors in women treated for DCIS and who died from breast cancer were compared with those of patients with DCIS who were free from metastatic disease.

Methods: The study included patients registered with DCIS without invasive carcinoma in Sweden between 1992 and 2012. This cohort was linked to the National Cause of Death Registry. Of 6964 women with DCIS, 96 were registered with breast cancer as cause of death (cases). For each case, up to four controls (318; women with DCIS, alive and without metastatic breast cancer at the time of death of the corresponding case) were selected randomly by incidence density sampling. Whole slides of tumour tissue were evaluated for DCIS grade, comedo necrosis, and intensity of periductal lymphocytic infiltrate. Composition of the immune cell infiltrate, expression of oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, and proliferation marker Ki-67 were scored on tissue microarrays. Clinical information was obtained from medical records. Information on date, site, and histological characteristics of local and distant recurrences was obtained from medical records for both cases and controls.

Results: Tumour tissue was analysed from 65 cases and 195 controls. Intense periductal lymphocytic infiltrate around DCIS was associated with an increased risk of later dying from breast cancer (OR 2.21. 95% c.i. 1.01 to 4.84). Tumours with more intense lymphocytic infiltrate had a lower T cell/B cell ratio. None of the other biomarkers correlated with increased risk of breast cancer death.

Conclusion: The immune response to DCIS may influence the risk of dying from breast cancer.

Purpose: The effectiveness of current follow-up guidelines after breast cancer treatment is uncertain. Tailored surveillance based on patient age and tumor characteristics may be more adequate. This study aimed to analyze the frequency of ipsilateral locoregional recurrences (LR) and second primary breast cancers (SP) detected outside of scheduled surveillance and to analyze risk factors associated with these events.

Methods: Patients with surgically treated early-stage breast cancer from the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS), 1991–2014 (n = 1080), and the Västernorrland region, 2009–2018 (n = 1648), were included. Clinical and pathological information on the primary tumor and recurrences was retrieved from medical records. The mode of recurrence detection was defined as detection within (planned) or outside (symptomatic) of scheduled surveillance.

Results: The median follow-up was 6.5 years. Overall, 461 patients experienced a recurrence. The most common initial event was distant metastasis (47%), followed by locoregional recurrence (LR) (22%) and second primary (SP) (18%). 56% of LR and 28% of SP were identified outside of scheduled surveillance. Logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age (under 50 years) (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.04–6.88), lymph node-positive breast cancer (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.03–4.39) and breast cancer of the HER2 positive subtype (OR 5.24, 95% CI 1.40–25.90) were correlated with higher odds of detecting a recurrence outside of planned surveillance.

Conclusion: Most recurrent events were detected outside of scheduled surveillance, particularly for locoregional recurrences. Risk-based surveillance, which takes into account patient and tumor characteristics, might be more suitable for specific patient subsets.

Background: Retrospective observational studies suggest a potential role of beta-blockers as a protective strategy against progression and metastasis in invasive breast cancer. In this context, we investigated the impact of beta-blocker exposure on risk for progression to invasive breast cancer after diagnosis of ductal cancer in situ (DCIS).

Methods: The retrospective study population included 2535 women diagnosed with pure DCIS between 2006 and2012 in three healthcare regions in SwedenExposure to beta-blocker was quantified using a time-varying percentage of days with medication available. The absolute risk was quantified using cumulative incidence functions and cox models were applied to quantify the association between beta-blocker exposure and time from DCIS diagnosis to invasive breast cancer, accounting for delayed effects, competing risks and pre-specified confounders.

Results: The median follow-up was 8.7 years. One third of the patients in our cohort were exposed to beta-blockers post DCIS diagnosis. During the study period, 48 patients experienced an invasive recurrence, giving a cumulative incidence of invasive breast cancer progression of 1.8% at five years. The cumulative exposure to beta-blocker was associated with a reduced risk in a dose-dependent manner, though the effect was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Our observational study is suggestive of a protective effect of beta-blockers against invasive breast cancer after primary DCIS diagnosis. These results provide rationales for experimental and clinical follow-up studies in carefully selected DCIS groups.

Introduction: Observational studies suggest that breast conserving surgery (BCS) and radiotherapy (RT) offers superior survival compared to mastectomy. The aim was to compare patient and tumour characteristics in women with invasive breast cancer ≤30 mm treated with either BCS or mastectomy, and to explore the underlying reason for choosing mastectomy.

Methods: Women registered with breast cancer ≤30 mm and ≤4 positive axillary lymph nodes in the Swedish National Breast Cancer Register 2013–2016 were included. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association of tumour and patient characteristics with receiving a mastectomy vs. BCS.

Results: Of 1860 breast cancers in 1825 women, 1346 were treated by BCS and 514 by mastectomy. Adjuvant RT was given to 1309 women (97.1 %) after BCS and 146 (27.6 %) after mastectomy. Variables associated with receiving a mastectomy vs. BCS included clinical detection (Odds Ratio (OR) 4.15 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 3.35–5.14)) and clinical stage (T2 vs. T1 (OR 3.68 (95 % CI 2.90–4.68)), N1 vs. N0 (OR 2.02 (95 % CI 1.38–2.96)). Women receiving mastectomy more often had oestrogen receptor negative, HER2 positive tumours of higher histological grade. The most common reported reason for mastectomy was large or multifocal tumours (53.5 %), followed by patient preference (34.5 %).

Conclusion: Choice of surgery is strongly associated with key prognostic factors among women undergoing BCS with RT compared to mastectomy. Failure to control for all relevant confounders may bias results in outcome studies in favour of BCS.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer form and a leading cause of death in women worldwide. Ductal breast carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is characterized by a proliferation of malignant cells confined within the mammary ducts and is a potential precursor of invasive breast cancer. The risk estimations of a DCIS to develop into invasive cancer over a 10 year period range from 30-50%. In the past 25 years, concomitant with the implementation of screening mammography, the incidence of DCIS has increased dramatically and presently almost 1 000 women are diagnosed with DCIS each year in Sweden. The increased incidence poses concerns of overtreatment and current research aim at identifying clinical or pathological markers that can reliably distinguish hazardous from harmless DCIS.                                        The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the prognostic significance of clinical and tumourbiological characteristics of DCIS and to assess the benefits and harms of adjuvant treatment.

In a population-based cohort of 2 952 women with primary DCIS, we analysed trends in incidence, treatment and outcome over a 20-year period (paper I). Information was obtained from the regional breast cancer register in Uppsala-Örebro healthcare region between 1992 and 2012. A validation of 300 randomly selected women revealed high overall completeness and reliability of most key variables, whereas follow-up data were of moderate quality with only 65% of the recurrences reported to the register.

The major finding of the study was a trend towards more intensified treatment over time. The frequency of mastectomy increased from 23.0% to 39.0% and the proportion of patients receiving adjuvant radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery increased from 30.1% to 67.6%. This did not, however, translate into any noteable improvements in outcome. Relative survival was >97% after 10 years with no significant variation over time. In conclusion, these results may reflect adequate treatment selection, but may also indicate a significant overtreatment.

In paper II and III, a nested case-control study was conducted from a cohort of 6 964 women with primary DCIS to identify clinical characteristics in DCIS associated with subsequent breast cancer death. Ninety-six women who later died from breast cancer were compared to 318 controls selected by incidence density sampling. Information was obtained from medial records and histopathology reports.

Tumour size over 25 mm or multifocal DCIS (OR 2⋅55; 95%CI 1⋅53 to 4⋅25), a positive or uncertain margin status (OR 3⋅91; 95%CI 1⋅59 to 9⋅61) and detection outside the screening programme (OR 2⋅12; 95%CI 1⋅16 to 3⋅86) increased the risk of death from breast cancer. In the multivariable analysis, tumour size (OR 1⋅95; 95%CI 1⋅06 to 3⋅67) and margin status (OR 2⋅69; 95%CI 1⋅15 to 7⋅11) remained significant. More extensive treatment was not associated with lower risk, which may be due to confounding by indication, or indicate that some DCIS have an inherent potential for metastatic spread.                                    

In paper III, to further explore the association of tumour biology and risk of breast cancer death, archival tumour blocks were collected. Freshly cut hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained sections of the primary DCIS were histopathologically evaluated for nuclear grade, presence of comedonecrosis and lymphocytic infiltration (LI). Tissue microarrays were constructed for immunohistochemical analysis (IHC) of oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and Ki67. Using the results of the IHC analyses, tumours were classified into surrogate molecular subtypes.

Presence of intense periductal LI was associated with an increased risk of subsequent breast cancer death (OR 2.25; 95%CI 1.02 to 4.99). None of the other biomarkers were individually related to breast cancer death, nor were there any statistically significant differences in risk between the molecular subtypes. In multivariable analysis, stepwise adjusting for age, tumour size and treatment, PR negativity in combination with LI; PR negativity, LI and presence of comedonecrosis and the combination of PR negativity, LI, comedonecrosis and HER2 positivity were all independently associated with increased risk of breast cancer death. The significance of features in the peritumoral stroma need further investigation and may have implications for targeted treatments.

In paper IV, we studied the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) after treatment for DCIS. Postoperative radiotherapy (RT) in DCIS reduces recurrence rates by half but confers no benefits in terms of survival. It is thus of major importance to consider long-term adverse effects. Left-sided breast irradiation may involve exposure of the heart to ionising radiation with an associated risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease. The cumulative incidence of IHD was analysed in a population-based cohort of 6270 women with DCIS compared 31 257 women without a history of breast cancer. Of the women with DCIS, 38.9% had received adjuvant RT.

After a median follow-up of 8 years, there was no increased risk of IHD for women with DCIS versus the comparison cohort. The risk was lower for women with DCIS allocated to RT compared to non-irradiated women and to the comparison cohort, probably due to patient selection. Comparison of RT by laterality did not show any over-risk for irradiation of the left breast. These results are reassuring, but longer follow-up may be warranted considering the continuously increasing use of RT in DCIS management.

Introduction: The risk of breast cancer death after a primary ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is less than 2 % after 10 years. Whereas in situ recurrences do not influence survival, a 17-fold elevated risk of breast cancer specific mortality has been shown for invasive recurrences. Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) effectively reduces recurrences after breast conserving surgery (BCS) for DCIS, but no studies have been able to demonstrate a survival benefit from adjuvant RT treatment or from choosing mastectomy instead of BCS. Here patient and tumour related risk factors for breast cancer death in women with a pure primary DCIS were studied.

Patients and methods: Women registered with a primary DCIS, between 1992-2012 in three of Sweden´s health care regions with a population of approximately 5.2 million, were enrolled in a nested case-control study. Out of 6,964 women with DCIS, 96 patients who later died from breast cancer were identified. Four controls per case (n=318) were randomly selected by incidence density sampling. We retrieved medical records and pathology reports and calculated OR with 95% CIs for various variables using conditional logistic regression.

Results: Of the 96 cases, 10 patients developed distant metastasis without a known local recurrence. In 56 patients death was preceded by an invasive ipsilateral recurrence and in 3 patients by a recurrent ipsilateral DCIS. Seven patients had invasive breast events in both the ipsilateral and the contralateral breast. Seventeen patients had contralateral invasive breast cancer and 3 patients contralateral DCIS.

Multifocality and tumour size over 25mm (OR 2.6 (1.6 to 4.2)), positive or uncertain margin status (OR 2.8 (1.6 to 4.9)) and detection outside screening (OR 2.1 (1.2 to 3.9)) increased the risk of breast cancer death in univariate analysis, when adjusted for age and year of diagnosis. Suspicion of micro-invasion and nuclear grade 3 was associated with a nonsignificant increased risk, OR 1.8 (0.6 to 5.0) and 2.6 (0.9-6.5), respectively. The risk was not affected by age or treatment. Tumour size and margin status remained significant in the multivariable analysis, when adjusted for treatment and for contralateral breast cancer (OR 2.0 (1.2 to 3.7)).

Conclusion: In the present study, large tumours and positive or uncertain margin status were significant risk factors for later breast cancer death after a primary DCIS. More extensive treatment was not related to a lower risk. The significance of tumour biology and nuclear grade will be further examined and evaluated.

Background Studies to date have failed to demonstrate any survival benefit from preventing local recurrence after treatment for ductal breast carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Patient- and tumour-related risk factors for death from breast cancer in women with a primary DCIS were analysed here in a large case-control study.

Methods A nested case-control study was conducted in a population-based cohort of women with primary DCIS between 1992 and 2012. Women who later died from breast cancer were identified. Four controls per case were selected randomly by incidence density sampling. Medical records and pathology reports were retrieved. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95 per cent confidence intervals for risk of death from breast cancer.

Results From a cohort of 6964 women, 96 who died from breast cancer were identified and these were compared with a group of 318 controls. Tumour size over 25mm or multifocal DCIS (OR 255, 95 per cent c.i. 153 to 425), a positive or uncertain margin status (OR 391, 159 to 961) and detection outside the screening programme (OR 212, 116 to 386) increased the risk of death from breast cancer. The risks were not affected by age or type of treatment. In the multivariable analysis, tumour size (OR 195, 106 to 367) and margin status (OR 269, 115 to 711) remained significant.

Conclusion In the present study, large tumour size and positive or uncertain margin status were associated with a higher risk of death from breast cancer after treatment for primary DCIS. More extensive treatment was not associated with lower risk, which may be due to confounding by indication, or indicate that some DCIS has an inherent potential for metastatic spread. Rare, but worse for large tumours and uncertain margins.

Aims: Sweden has a long history of population-based cancer registration. The aim of our study was to assess the validity of DCIS registration in a regional Breast Cancer Quality Register (BCQR) and to analyze trends in incidence, treatment and outcome of DCIS, over a 20-year period.Material and methods: All patients with a diagnosis of primary DCIS reported in the BCQR of the Uppsala-orebro healthcare region in Sweden 1992-2012 were included. Three hundred women were randomly selected and their medical records were compared to register data. The study period was divided into four time periods.Results: A total of 2952 women were registered with a DCIS diagnosis. In the final validation cohort of 295 patients, 23 were found to have either recurrent DCIS or invasive breast cancer and eight had LCIS. The completeness and validity of key variables were 91-99%. Twenty of 31 local recurrences were registered (65%).The proportion of DCIS to all breast cancers was 9.5%. Tumor size increased over time. The frequency of mastectomy increased from 23.0% to 39.0%. The proportion of patients receiving radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery increased from 30.1% to 67.6%. The reported local recurrence rate was 9.7% after 10 years. Reported recurrences after BCS and mastectomy were 12.0 and 7.0%, respectively. The recurrence rate did not differ between women undergoing BCS with or without radiotherapy.Conclusion: Only 89.5% of reported DCIS was a primary pure DCIS. The completeness of primary treatment and tumor data was high. The proportion of reported local recurrences was disappointingly low, 65%. The proportion of DCIS was stable over time with a trend towards more intensified treatment. The reported recurrence rate was low independent of treatment and can reflect adequate patient selection, but also over treatment. Our results address the necessity to validate register data on a regular basis.

Background: International guidelines recommend open surgery for atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) in the breast due to risk of underestimating malignant disease. Considering the ongoing randomized trials of active surveillance of low-risk ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), it seems reasonable to define a low-risk group of women with ADH where a conservative approach is appropriate. The aim here was to evaluate the management and risk for upgrade of lesions diagnosed as ADH in percutaneous breast biopsies in two Swedish hospitals.

Methods: All women with a screen-detected or symptomatic breast lesion breast imaging-reporting and data system (BI-RADS) 2–4 and a percutaneous biopsy showing ADH between 2013 and 2022 at Sundsvall Hospital and Umeå University Hospital were included. Information regarding imaging, histopathology, clinical features, and management was retrieved from medical records. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for upgrade to malignant diagnosis after surgery were calculated by logistic regression analysis.

Results: Altogether, 101 women were included with a mean age 56.1 (range 36–93) years. Most women were selected from the national mammography screening program due to microcalcifications. Biopsies were performed with vacuum-assisted biopsy (60.4%) or core-needle biopsy (39.6%). Forty-eight women (47.5%) underwent surgery, of which 11 were upgraded to DCIS, and 7 to invasive breast cancer (upgrade rate 37.5%). Among the 53 women managed conservatively (median follow-up 74 months), one woman (1.9%) developed subsequent ipsilateral DCIS. The combined upgrade rate was 18.8%. No clinical variable statistically significantly correlating to risk of upgrade was identified.

Conclusions: The upgrade rate of 37.5% in women undergoing surgery compared to an estimated 5-year risk of ipsilateral malignancy at 1.9% in women managed conservatively indicate that non-surgical management of select women with ADH is feasible. Research should focus on defining reproducible criteria differentiating high-risk from low-risk ADH.

Purpose: The use of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in the management of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is increasing. Left-sided breast irradiation may involve exposure of the heart to ionising radiation, increasing the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD). We examined the incidence of IHD in a population-based cohort of women with DCIS.

Methods: The Breast Cancer DataBase Sweden (BCBase) cohort includes women registered with invasive and in situ breast cancers 1992-2012 and age-matched women without a history of breast cancer. In this analysis, 6270 women with DCIS and a comparison cohort of 31,257 women were included. Through linkage with population-based registers, data on comorbidity, socioeconomic status and incidence of IHD was obtained. Hazard ratios (HR) for IHD with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were analysed.

Results: Median follow-up time was 8.8 years. The risk of IHD was not increased for women with DCIS versus women in the comparison cohort (HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.82-1.06), after treatment with radiotherapy versus surgery alone (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.60-0.98) or when analysing RT by laterality (HR 0.85; 95% CI 0.53-1.37 for left-sided versus right-sided RT).

Conclusions: The risk of IHD was lower for women with DCIS allocated to RT compared to non-irradiated women and to the comparison cohort, probably due to patient selection. Comparison of RT by laterality did not show any over-risk for irradiation of the left breast.

Background: The goal was to develop and validate a biologic signature for 10-year ipsilateral invasive breast event (IBE) risk in luminal Stage 1 breast cancer (BC) patients treated surgically and either with or without radiation therapy (RT). Methods: This cohort was from Uppsala University and Västerås Hospitals diagnosed with Stage 1 BC and treated surgically between 1987 and 2004. Treatment was neither randomized nor strictly rules based, including adjuvant RT, Hormone Therapy (HT), and Chemotherapy (CT). Biomarkers (HER2, PR, Ki67, COX2, p16/INK4A, FOXA1 and SIAH2) were assessed on tissue microarrays in PreludeDx’s CLIA lab by board-certified pathologists. Risk groups were calculated using biomarkers and clinical factors age and size. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to determine hazard ratio for biologic signature. 10-year IBE risk was assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results: There were 423 luminal cases with biomarker data having 54 IBEs, and a median follow-up of 11.8 years. There were 372 patients treated with BCS and 51 with Mastectomy, and 325 received RT, 169 received HT, and 47 received CT. In a multivariate analysis, the biologic signature (HR = 1.6, p = 0.019) and RT (HR = 0.51, p = 0.027) were associated with IBE risk adjusting for other treatments (HT and CT) and Luminal A status (p = 0.37). For patients over 50 yrs of age with luminal A disease and treated without CT (n = 205), an elevated biologic signature identified a subset of patients with a 15% (+/- 14%) 10-year IBE risk without RT (n = 38) compared to a 4% (+/-6%) IBE risk with RT (n = 72), while patients with a low biologic signature had a 10-year IBE risk of 4% (+/- 4%) without RT (n = 26) and 3% (+/-5%) IBE risk with RT (n = 69). Conclusions: With further prospective validation, the biologic signature identified herein may provide a tool enabling improved management for women diagnosed with early luminal BC.

BACKGROUND: Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer (BC) has been associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD). We examined the incidence of IHD in a large population-based cohort of women with BC.

METHODS: The Breast Cancer DataBase Sweden (BCBaSe) includes all women diagnosed with BC from 1992 to 2012 (n = 60,217) and age-matched women without a history of BC (n = 300,791) in three Swedish health care regions. Information on comorbidity, educational level, and incidence of IHD was obtained through linkage with population-based registries. The risk of IHD was estimated by Cox proportional hazard regression analyses and cumulative incidence by the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS: Women with BC had a lower risk of IHD compared to women without BC with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.91 (95% CI 0.88-0.95). When women with left-sided BC were compared to right-sided BC, an increased HR for IHD of 1.09 (95% CI 1.01-1.17) was seen. In women receiving RT, a HR of 1.18 (95% CI 1.06-1.31) was seen in left-sided compared to right-sided BC, and the HRs increased with more extensive lymph node involvement and with the addition of systemic therapy. The cumulative IHD incidence was increased in women receiving left-sided RT compared to right-sided RT, starting from the first years after RT and sustained with longer follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Women given RT for left-sided BC during 1992 to 2012 had an increased risk of IHD compared to women treated for right-sided BC. These women were treated in the era of three-dimensional conformal RT (3DCRT), and the results emphasize the importance of further developing and implementing RT techniques that lower the cardiac doses, without compromising the beneficial effects of RT.

Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer (BC) has been associated with an increased risk of later radiation-induced lung cancer (LC). We examined the risk of primary LC in a population-based cohort of 52300 women treated for BC during 1992 to 2012, and 253796 age-matched women without BC. Cumulative incidence of LC was calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method, and the risk of LC after BC treatment was estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Women with BC receiving RT had a higher cumulative incidence of LC compared to women with BC not receiving RT and women without BC. This became apparent 5 years after RT and increased with longer follow-up. Women with BC receiving RT had a Hazard ratio of 1.59 (95% confidence interval 1.37–1.84) for LC compared to women without BC. RT techniques that lower the incidental lung doses, e.g breathing adaption techniques, may lower this risk.

Background: Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) after breast-conserving surgery for DCIS lowers the relative local recurrence risk by half. To identify a low-risk group with the minimal benefit of RT could avoid side effects and spare costs. In this study, the outcome was compared for different RT-strategies using data from the randomized SweDCIS trial.

Material and methods: Five strategies were compared in a Swedish setting: RT-to-none or all, RT to high-risk women defined by DCISionRT, modified Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9804 criteria, and Swedish Guidelines. Ten-year recurrence risks and cost including adjuvant RT and local recurrence treatment cost were calculated.

Results: The mean age at recurrence was 64.4 years (36–90) and the mean cost for treating a recurrence was $21,104. In the SweDCIS cohort (n = 504), 59 women developed DCIS, and 31 invasive recurrence. Ten-year absolute local recurrence risk (invasive and DCIS) according to different strategies varied between 18.6% (12.5–23.6%) and 7.8% (5.0–12.6%) for RT-to-none or to-all, with an additional cost of $2614 US dollars per women and $24,201 per prevented recurrence for RT-to-all. The risk differences between other strategies were not statistically significant, but the larger proportion receiving RT, the fewer recurrences. DCISionRT spared 48% from RT with 8.1% less recurrences compared to RT-to-none, and a cost of $10,534 per prevented recurrence with additional cost depending on the price of the test. RTOG 9804 spared 39% from RT, with 9.7% less recurrences, $9525 per prevented recurrence and Swedish Guidelines spared 13% from RT, with 10.0% less recurrences, and $21,521 per prevented recurrence.

Conclusion: It seems reasonable to omit RT in pre-specified low-risk groups with minimal effect on recurrence risk. Costs per prevented recurrence varied more than two-fold but which strategy that could be considered most cost-effective needs to be further evaluated, including the DCISionRT-test price.