TUESDAY, March 31, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For breast cancer patients with node-limited disease after neoadjuvant therapy, axillary radiotherapy (ART) is as effective as axillary lymphadenectomy (ALND) and has fewer cases of lymphedema, according to two studies presented at the 2026 Brest Cancer Conference. Barcelona, Spain.
Amparo García-Tejedor, M.D., Ph.D., from the University Hospital of Bellvíge in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues investigated whether ART without lymphadenectomy can induce ALND in patients with node-limited disease after neoadjuvant therapy in a phase 3 multicenter trial involving patients with breast cancer T1 to c1 to 2 N, positive sentinel lymph nodes. Participants were randomly assigned to ART or ALND (46 and 56, respectively). The researchers observed no axillary recurrence in the ART arm and one (1.8 percent) in the ALND arm. Distant metastases occurred in 4.4 and 5.5 percent, respectively, and there were two deaths in the ALND arm. Comparable two-year disease-free and overall survival rates were seen.
Maria Laplana-Torres, MD, from the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues examined the toxicity and quality-of-life profiles of ART and ALND in the same trial. The researchers found that the mean total RT was significantly higher in the ART group than in the ALND group. Severe grade ≥2 skin toxicity occurred in 27.8 and 13.3 percent of ART and ALND patients, respectively; there was no significant difference in late skin toxicity. The incidence of lymphedema was numerically—but not statistically—lower with ART (18.9 vs. 26.7 percent). Comparable quality of life outcomes were seen between study groups.
“These results suggest that axillary radiotherapy may be a safer and less invasive option for some women who have been treated with chemotherapy or hormone therapy before surgery,” Laplana-Torres said in a statement.
