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Comparison of Complete Axillary Lymph Node Dissection With Axillary Radiation Therapy in Treating Women With Invasive Breast Cancer

Phase 3
Completed
Conditions
Breast Cancer
Interventions
Procedure: axillary lymph node dissection
Procedure: lymphoscintigraphy
Procedure: therapeutic conventional surgery
Radiation: radiation therapy
Registration Number
NCT00014612
Lead Sponsor
European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer - EORTC
Brief Summary

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells and may be a less invasive treatment and cause fewer side effects than complete axillary lymph node dissection. It is not yet known which treatment is more effective for invasive breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of complete axillary lymph node dissection with that of axillary radiation therapy in treating women who have invasive breast cancer.

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

* Compare the regional control of the axilla obtained by complete axillary lymph node dissection vs axillary radiotherapy in sentinel lymph node-positive women with operable invasive breast cancer.

* Determine whether local and regional axillary control can be obtained without axillary lymph node dissection in sentinel lymph node-negative women.

* Compare the axillary 5-year recurrence-free survival of these patients treated with these regimens.

* Compare the morbidity of patients treated with these regimens.

* Compare the quality of life of these patients treated with these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to participating center and type of breast surgery (conservation vs total mastectomy). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

Patients are given an injection of a tracer and undergo lymphoscintigraphy 2-3 hours later to identify the sentinel lymph node. Within 24 hours after lymphoscintigraphy, patients undergo wide local excision of the tumor or mastectomy after the sentinel node is removed. If no sentinel node is found or metastasis is found in a nonsentinel node, patients undergo complete axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) regardless of randomization. Sentinel node-negative patients receive no further treatment. Sentinel node-positive patients continue treatment according to randomization.

* Arm I: Within 8 weeks after surgery, patients undergo complete ALND.

* Arm II: Within 8 weeks after surgery, patients undergo axillary lymph node radiotherapy daily 5 days a week for 5 weeks.

Patients in arm I may receive postoperative axillary irradiation if 4 or more nodes are positive and more than 1 axillary level is involved.

Quality of life is assessed at baseline and then at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years.

Patients are followed annually for 5 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 3,485 patients (1,394 sentinel node-positive and 2,091 sentinel node-negative) will be accrued for this study within 3 years.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
4813
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
axillary lymph node dissectionaxillary lymph node dissectioncomplete axillary lymph node dissection
axillary lymph node dissectionlymphoscintigraphycomplete axillary lymph node dissection
axillary lymph node dissectiontherapeutic conventional surgerycomplete axillary lymph node dissection
axillary radiotherapylymphoscintigraphyaxillary radiotherapy, daily for 5 days a week, for 5 weeks
axillary radiotherapytherapeutic conventional surgeryaxillary radiotherapy, daily for 5 days a week, for 5 weeks
axillary radiotherapyradiation therapyaxillary radiotherapy, daily for 5 days a week, for 5 weeks
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Axillary recurrence ratefrom randomization
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Disease-free survivalfrom randomization
Overall survivalfrom randomization
Shoulder function as assessed by arm function test questionnaire at baseline, 1, 3, and 5 years after surgeryfrom randomization
Quality of life as measured by Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 Items (QLQ-C30) and QLQ-BR25 at baseline, 1, 2, 3, and 5 years after surgeryfrom randomization
Axillary recurrence-free survivalfrom randomization

Trial Locations

Locations (29)

NIJ Smellinghe

🇳🇱

Drachten, Netherlands

Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital

🇳🇱

Amsterdam, Netherlands

CHU de Grenoble - Hopital de la Tronche

🇫🇷

Grenoble, France

Centre Oscar Lambret

🇫🇷

Lille, France

Kennemer Gasthuis - Locatie EG

🇳🇱

Haarlem, Netherlands

Leiden University Medical Center

🇳🇱

Leiden, Netherlands

Azienda Sanitaria Ospedale San Giovanni Battista Molinette di Torino

🇮🇹

Turin, Italy

HagaZiekenhuis - Locatie Leyenburg

🇳🇱

's-Gravenhage, Netherlands

Gelre Ziekenhuizen - Lokatie Lukas

🇳🇱

Apeldoorn, Netherlands

HagaZiekenhuis - Locatie Rode Kruis

🇳🇱

Den Haag, Netherlands

Ropcke-Zweers Ziekenhuis

🇳🇱

Hardenberg, Netherlands

Universita Degli Studi di Florence - Policlinico di Careggi

🇮🇹

Firenze (Florence), Italy

Wythenshawe Hospital

🇬🇧

Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Ziekenhuis Amstelland

🇳🇱

Amstelveen, Netherlands

Ziekenhuis St. Jansdal

🇳🇱

Harderwijk, Netherlands

Universitair Medisch Centrum St. Radboud - Nijmegen

🇳🇱

Nijmegen, Netherlands

Rijnstate Hospital

🇳🇱

Arnhem, Netherlands

Reinier de Graaf Group - Delft

🇳🇱

Delft, Netherlands

Catharina Ziekenhuis

🇳🇱

Eindhoven, Netherlands

University Medical Center Groningen

🇳🇱

Groningen, Netherlands

Academisch Medisch Centrum at University of Amsterdam

🇳🇱

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ziekenhuis Bronovo

🇳🇱

Den Haag, Netherlands

Saint Laurentius Ziekenhuis

🇳🇱

Roermond, Netherlands

Medical University of Gdansk

🇵🇱

Gdansk, Poland

Marmara University Hospital

🇹🇷

Istanbul, Turkey

University Hospital of Wales

🇬🇧

Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

Institute of Oncology - Ljubljana

🇸🇮

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Hopital Cantonal Universitaire de Geneve

🇨🇭

Geneva, Switzerland

University Medical Center Utrecht

🇳🇱

Utrecht, Netherlands

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