Khan, Atif J.

PURPOSE Patients with breast cancer requiring postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) often desire breast reconstruction. Reconstructions can be adversely affected by PMRT, and fear of reconstruction complications has discouraged adoption of short-course radiation therapy used after lumpectomy. To fill the evidence gap, we conducted a noninferiority trial of hypofractionated versus conventional PMRT in patients undergoing breast reconstruction. The primary outcome was reconstruction complication rate, a composite of wound healing, readmission, capsular contracture, unplanned reoperation, and reconstruction failure. METHODS Women with unilateral invasive breast cancer with planned immediate or delayed reconstruction and PMRT were randomly assigned (1:1) to 50 Gy (25 fractions/5 weeks) or 42.56 Gy (16 fractions/3 weeks). This study was designed with a noninferiority margin of 10%, assuming a 2-year reconstruction complication rate of 25% with conventional PMRT. Randomization was stratified by immediate versus delayed and autologous versus implant-only reconstruction. RESULTS Between 2018 and 2021, 898 patients enrolled with a median follow-up of 3.9 years; 825 patients were evaluable for the primary end point. The 24-month reconstruction complication rates were 12.3% (52/422) with hypofractionated PMRT and 10.2% (41/403) with conventional PMRT, corresponding to an estimated difference of -2.1% (95% CI, -6.5 to 2.2). The complication rate was higher (regardless of arm) with implant-only versus autologous reconstruction (odds ratio = 1.65). There was no statistically significant difference in 36-month locoregional recurrence rates: 1.5% (95% CI, 0.7 to 3.2) with hypofractionated and 2.2% (95% CI, 1.1 to 4.3) with conventional PMRT. Acute and late toxicity rates were not statistically different. CONCLUSION A 16-fraction course of hypofractionated PMRT is safe and noninferior to conventional PMRT in women undergoing breast reconstruction after mastectomy.

Abstract Background: The benefit of adjuvant regional nodal irradiation including the chest wall after mastectomy (CWI+RNI) and with whole breast irradiation (WBI+RNI) after breast conserving surgery (BCS) is well established in pts with pathologically positive axillary nodes (pN+). Pts who present with axillary node involvement (cN+), receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC), and are found to be pathologically node-negative at surgery (ypN0), have lower loco-regional recurrence (LRR) rates compared to those who remain pathologically node-positive (ypN+). This phase III, randomized trial aimed to evaluate whether CWI+RNI after mastectomy or addition of RNI to WBI after BCS significantly improves invasive breast cancer recurrence-free interval (IBC-RFI) in cN+ pts found to be ypN0 after NC. Methods: Eligible pts had clinical cT1-3, N1, M0 invasive breast cancer (biopsy-proven N+ by FNA/core needle bx), completed ≥8 wks of NC (and anti-HER2 therapy if HER2+), and were ypN0 after mastectomy or BCS and sentinel node biopsy (SLNB, ≥2 nodes), axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), or both. Pts were randomized to “No RNI” (i.e., observation after mastectomy or WBI after BCS) vs. “RNI” (i.e., CWI+RNI after mastectomy or WBI+RNI after BCS). Primary endpoint was IBC-RFI. Secondary endpoints reported here: LRR-free interval (LRRFI), distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). Study was designed to have 80% power to detect 35% reduction in annual rate of IBC-RFI for an absolute risk reduction of 4.6% (5-yr cumulative rate). Per protocol, final analysis was to occur after 172 events or 10 yrs after study initiation.Here we report the time-driven analysis prespecified in the protocol. Results: From 9/13-12/20, 1,641 pts were enrolled; 1,556 pts were available for primary event analysis; median f/u time 59.5 mos (IQR 40.7-74.1). Pt/tumor characteristics were well balanced between groups. Median age 52 yrs (range 21-84); 31% non-white; 21% cT1, 60% cT2, 19% cT3; 23% triple-negative, 21% HR+/HER2-, 56% HER2+; 58% BCS; 55% SLNB, 45% ALND+/-SLNB; and 78% had breast pathologic complete response. At the time of the analysis, 109 IBC-RFI events (63% of the planned 172) were confirmed (“No RNI”: 59, “RNI”: 50). There was no statistically significant difference between groups for IBC-RFI (HR=0.88, 95%CI 0.60-1.29; p=0.51), 5-yr point estimates: 91.8% for “No RNI” and 92.7% for “RNI.” There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment groups for secondary endpoints. There were no study-related deaths and no unexpected toxicities.Grade 4 toxicity was rare (0.1% with “No RNI”, 0.5% with “RNI”); 6.5% of pts developed grade 3 toxicity in “No RNI” and 10% in “RNI” group. Most common grade 3 toxicity was radiation dermatitis (3.3% in “No RNI,” 5.7% in “RNI”). Conclusion: In pts who present with biopsy-proven axillary node involvement and convert their axillary nodes to ypN0 after NC, CWI+RNI after mastectomy, or WBI+RNI after BCS, did not significantly improve IBC-RFI, LRRFI, DRFI, DFS, or OS. These findings suggest that downstaging involved axillary nodes with NC can result in optimization of adjuvant radiotherapy without adversely affecting oncologic outcomes. Follow-up of pts for long-term outcomes continues. NCT01872975 *EPM and JW are co-first authors. Table 1 Citation Format: Eleftherios Mamounas, Hanna Bandos, Julia White, Thomas Julian, Atif Khan, Simona Shaitelman, Mylin Torres, Frank Vicini, Patricia Ganz, Susan McCloskey, Nilendu Gupta, X. Allen Li, Peter Lucas, Nadeem Abu-Rustum, Saumil Gandhi, Rahul Tendulkar, Robert Coleman, Keiichi Fujiwara, Samantha Seaward, William Irvin, Kristin Higgins, Robert Mutter, Jean-Francois Boileau, Andrew Muskovitz, Reshma Jagsi, Anna Weiss, Curran Walter Jr., Norman Wolmark. Loco-Regional Irradiation in Patients with Biopsy-proven Axillary Node Involvement at Presentation Who Become Pathologically Node-negative After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Primary Outcomes of NRG Oncology/NSABP B-51/RTOG 1304 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr GS02-07.