ReviewEcancermedicalscience2021
A systematic review of neo-adjuvant radiotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer.
Review in Ecancermedicalscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advances in breast cancer treatment: a systematic review of preoperative stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for breast cancer.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Preoperative Partial Breast Irradiation in Patients with Low-Risk Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review of Literature.Annals of surgical oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Radiation therapy for triple-negative breast cancer: emerging role of microRNAs as biomarkers and radiosensitivity modifiers. A systematic review.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Modification of RECIST 1.1 criteria for assessing response in breast tumours treated with radiation therapy using multiparametric breast MRI: Radiology and oncology perspective.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2026Article
- Early Radiation Therapy Response Assessment Using Multi-Scale Photoacoustic Imaging.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Adjuvant and Neoadjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.European journal of breast health · 2024Article
- Role of AURKB Inhibition in Reducing Proliferation and Enhancing Effects of Radiotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2024Article
- The current understanding of the immune landscape relative to radiotherapy across tumor types.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Principles of patient-centred care and barriers to their implementation: a case study of breast reconstruction in Australia.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe use of neo-adjuvant radiotherapy (NRT) has been proven effective at improving cancer related outcome measures, including overall-survival (OS) in the management of solid cancers. However, its utilisation in breast cancer has not been explored to the extent of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The evidence for the application of NRT in breast cancer is evaluated.
methodsPubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases were searched systematically in August 2020 for studies that addressed the role of NRT in the treatment of breast cancer. Studies were deemed eligible if they reported on objective outcome measurements of OS, disease free-survival (DFS) or pathological complete response (pCR) and attained a satisfactory quality assessment.
findingsA total of 23 studies reported upon 3,766 patients who had received NRT of which 3,233 also received NAC concurrently (neo-adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (NCRT)). The pCR values ranged from 14% to 42%, 5-year DFS 61.4% to 81% and 5-year OS 71.6% to 84.2%. Complications were confined to radiation dermatitis with no cases of implant loss reported during breast reconstruction. The application of NRCT alone showed no significant difference in OS or DFS compared to NCRT followed by surgery.
interpretationNumbers of patients receiving exclusively NRT is small. However, NCRT is oncologically safe with a low side-effect profile including preceding breast reconstruction. Potential benefits include precise cancer volume targeting, chemosensitisation, elimination of delays in adjuvant therapies and alternatives to chemotherapy in oestrogen receptor positive patients. These factors warrant further exploration within randomised controlled-trials.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.