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Purpose To determine the rates of breast cancer–related lymphedema (BCRL) in patients undergoing whole-breast irradiation as part of breast-conserving therapy (BCT) and to identify clinical, pathologic, and treatment factors associated with its development. Methods and Materials A total of 1,861 patients with breast cancer were treated at William Beaumont Hospital with whole-breast irradiation as part of their BCT from January 1980 to February 2006, with 1,497 patients available for analysis. Determination of BCRL was based on clinical assessment. Differences in clinical, pathologic, and treatment characteristics between patients with BCRL and those without BCRL were evaluated, and the actuarial rates of BCRL by regional irradiation technique were determined. Results The actuarial rate of any BCRL was 7.4% for the entire cohort and 9.9%, 14.7%, and 8.3% for patients receiving a supraclavicular field, posterior axillary boost, and internal mammary irradiation, respectively. BCRL was more likely to develop in patients with advanced nodal status (11.4% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.001), those who had a greater number of lymph nodes removed (14 nodes) (9.5% vs. 6.0%, p = 0.01), those who had extracapsular extension (13.4% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.009), those with Grade II/III disease (10.8% vs. 2.9%, p p = 0.02). Regional irradiation showed small increases in the rates of BCRL ( p = not significant). Conclusions These results suggest that clinically detectable BCRL will develop after traditional BCT in up to 10% of patients. High-risk subgroups include patients with advanced nodal status, those with more nodes removed, and those who receive chemotherapy, with patients receiving regional irradiation showing a trend toward increased rates.

Purpose To examine 10-year results of a single institution's experience with radiotherapy limited to the region of the tumor bed (i.e., accelerated partial breast irradiation, [APBI]) in selected patients treated with breast-conserving therapy (BCT) and compare them with results of matched BCT patients who underwent whole-breast irradiation (WBI). Patients and Methods A total of 199 patients with early-stage breast cancer were treated prospectively with BCT and APBI using interstitial brachytherapy. To compare potential differences in local recurrence rates on the basis of the volume of breast tissue irradiated, patients in the APBI group were matched with 199 patients treated with WBI. Match criteria included tumor size, nodal status, age at diagnosis, margins of excision, estrogen receptor status, and use of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy. Local–regional control, disease-free survival, and overall survival were analyzed between treatment groups. Results Median follow-up for surviving patients was 9.6 years (range, 0.3–13.6 years). Eight ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences (IBTRs) were observed in patients treated with APBI. The cumulative incidence of IBTR at 10 years was 5%. On matched-pair analysis, the rate of IBTR was not statistically significantly different between the patient groups (4%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–6.7% for WBI therapy patients vs. 5%, 95% CI 1.5–8.5% for APBI patients; p = 0.48). Conclusions Radiation therapy limited to the region of the tumor bed (APBI) produced 10-year local control rates comparable to those from WBI in selected low-risk patients.