Radiotherapy Cuts BRCA-Associated Contralateral Breast Cancer Risk

CHICAGO—Prophylactic contralateral (CLT) breast radiotherapy was associated with significantly fewer and delayed cases of breast cancer in women having standard therapy for their ipsilateral BRCA mutation-associated breast cancers in a study from Israel reported in a poster session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2018 annual meeting.

https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/161629/abstract

(Phase II national clinical trial of prophylactic irradiation to the contralateral breast for BRCA mutation carriers treated for early breast cancer.)

Jewish women, high risk

Ella Evron MD, a medical oncologist at the Kaplan hospital in Zerifin, Israel, said that in Israel they saw many patients with BRCA-associated breast cancer because three “founder mutations” are commonly detected in Ashkenazi Jews who are at very high risk of developing breast cancer. She tells the Audio Journal of Oncology about the opportunity to study prophylactic radiotherapy because women increased risk of getting contralateral breast cancer were declining prophylactic surgery because of the fear of its impact on their lives.