ASTRO Issues Consensus Statement On Using APBI To Treat Breast Cancer

The American Society for Radiation Oncology has published a consensus statement outlining patient selection criteria and best practices for the use of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) outside the context of a clinical trial in the July 15 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO. For decades, whole-breast irradiation (WBI), where radiation is delivered to the whole breast every day for five to eight weeks, has been the standard treatment for patients with early breast cancer treated with breast conserving surgery. WBI has been shown to reduce the risk of recurrence in the affected breast and increase the likelihood of long-term survival. However, recently there h...