ArticleRadiation oncology (London, England)2025
Smoking increases breast toxicity despite adjuvant hypofractionated IMRT in early breast cancer.
Article in Radiation oncology (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Association between radiation volume and breast density for skin toxicity and breast edema after radiotherapy in breast conserving therapy of breast cancer.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the impact of smoking on acute and chronic toxicity in early breast cancer patients treated with hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and a brachytherapy boost following breast-conserving surgery.
methodsA retrospective study of 638 patients treated between 2009 and 2017, with 566 having recorded smoking status. Acute toxicity was assessed at treatment end and chronic toxicity at least one-year post-treatment, using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests and relative risk (RR) calculations.
resultsA total of 566 patients were included in the study, with 31.3% being smokers. The cohort was followed for a median of 6 years (range: 1-11 years). Acute toxicity was primarily characterized by radiodermatitis, with 87.6% of patients developing grade 1 and 5.5% experiencing grade 2. No cases of grade ≥ 3 were observed, and 6.9% of patients did not experience radiodermatitis. Bleeding was rare (1.1%) and infections occurred in 2.0% of patients. Regarding chronic toxicity, 67.1% of patients had no fibrosis, while 27.4% had grade 1 fibrosis. Grade 2 and grade 3 fibrosis were observed in 4.9% and 0.6% of patients, respectively, with no cases of grade 4 fibrosis. Edema was present in 8.0%, and 4.4% of patients reported chronic pain. When comparing smokers and nonsmokers, acute toxicity incidence, particularly radiodermatitis, was similar between the two groups. Smokers had a significantly higher incidence of chronic fibrosis (35.6% vs. 24.7%, p = 0.013) and chronic pain (7.9% vs. 3.3%, p = 0.024) compared to nonsmokers. However, there were no significant differences in the occurrence of edema between smokers and nonsmokers (7.9% vs. 8.0%, p = 0.879).
conclusionWhile advanced radiation techniques such as hypofractionated IMRT improve overall toxicity profiles, smoking significantly exacerbates chronic toxicity in breast cancer patients. This study underscores the urgent need for comprehensive smoking cessation programs as part of cancer care, addressing lifestyle factors to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.