[Correspondence] Targeted radiotherapy for early breast cancer – Authors' reply

We reject the inference of a survival benefit for patients receiving partial-breast irradiation within the IMPORT LOW trial and caution against any such interpretation when the number of events reported is so small.1 There is no suggestion of a difference in disease-free and overall survival across IMPORT LOW treatment groups.1 The TARGIT trialists' claim of survival benefit in their own trial relates to non-breast cancer deaths, and the data they cite are from a selected subset of patients. In IMPORT LOW, there were nine cardiac deaths occurring 6 –36 months following randomisation, four after left-sided and five after right-sided breast cancer.

Source: LANCET - January 5, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Charlotte E Coles, Joanne S Haviland, Anna M Kirby, Jenny Titley, Maggie Wilcox, Judith M Bliss, John R Yarnold Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research