A Randomized Comparison of Radiation Therapy Techniques in the Management of Node Positive Breast Cancer

All patients treated with the optimized plan will be treated to the entire target volume to 52.2 Gy in 1.74 Gy fractions, which is biologically equivalent to 50 Gy in 2 Gy fractions. This fractionation scheme will allow the boost of 10 Gy to be incorporated into the planning directive and to be delivered simultaneously with the treatment to the remaining target volume.

All patients treated using the best standard technique will receive 50 Gy in 2 Gy fractions or 50.4 Gy in 1.8 Gy fractions to the entire target volume delivering one treatment per day, five fractions per week (excluding holidays). A boost of 10 Gy to the tumor bed of an intact breast will be delivered. Patients treated to the chest wall will receive a 10Gy scar boost if mastectomy margins are positive in a patient with Stage II disease or if the patient was originally diagnosed with T3 or T4 (Stage III) disease