Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) represents an evolving technique that is a standard of care option in appropriately selected woman following breast conserving surgery. While multiple techniques now exist to deliver APBI, interstitial brachytherapy represents the technique used in several randomized trials (National Institute of Oncology, GEC-ESTRO). More recently, many centers have adopted applicator-based brachytherapy to deliver APBI due to the technical complexities of interstitial brachytherapy. The purpose of this article is to review methods to evaluate and select patients for APBI, as well as to define potential workflow mechanisms that allow for the safe and effective delivery of APBI. Multiple consensus statements have been developed to guide clinicians on determining appropriate candidates for APBI. However, recent studies have demonstrated that these guidelines fail to stratify patients according to the risk of local recurrence, and updated guidelines are expected in the years to come. Critical elements of workflow to ensure safe and effective delivery of APBI include a multidisciplinary approach and evaluation, optimization of target coverage and adherence to normal tissue guideline constraints, and proper quality assurance methods.J
PurposeBreast conserving therapy, consisting of lumpectomy followed by 6 to 7 weeks of whole breast irradiation (WBI), has been shown in multiple randomized trials to produce equivalent clinical outcomes compared to mastectomy, as well as reduced breast cancer mortality when compared to lumpectomy alone [1,2,3,4]. However, the protracted nature of treatment can pose financial and logistical hardships on patients and medical systems [5,6,7]. Therefore, there has been increased interest in developing shorter treatment courses without compromising treatment efficacy, in particular local control. One such technique is accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), which covers the area surrounding the lumpectomy cavity with a margin and typically is completed in one week or less [8]. Multiple studies have compared APBI with WBI and have found equivalent rates of local control and thus, APBI has emerged as a viable, safe treatment option for properly selected patients with early stage breast cancer [9,10,11,12,13]. As interest in and the utilization APBI grows, a standardized approach to treatment and workflow is necessary for many groups. The purpose of this review is to provide clinicians with a guide on patient selection and treatment workflow for patients undergoing brachytherapy-based APBI.
Discussion
Patient selectionSociety-specific guidelines have utilized a combination of data from patients treated with APBI, data from patients treated with WBI including patterns of failure, and expert opinion to define appropriateness criteria for the utilization of APBI off-protocol (Table 1) [14,15,16,17]. The ASTRO consensus statement, published in 2009, is one of the most commonly utilized guidelines and uses clinical and pathologic features that stratify ...