On Friday 23 May at 15:00, Anders W. Mølby Nielsen defends his PhD dissertation entitled "Internal mammary node irradiation in node-positive breast cancer patients treated with newer therapies".

The indication for internal mammary node irradiation has been debated for the last 50 years due to  the risk of ischaemic heart disease. Previous studies have demonstrated a survival gain from internal mammary node irradiation. However, breast cancer prognosis has improved substantially due to screening and newer systemic therapies. Therefore, the need for internal mammary node irradiation has been questioned again.

The DBCG IMN2 study included 4541 node-positive breast cancer patients treated between 2007 and 2014. The study found a clinically relevant survival gain of 4.2% at 15-year follow-up in patients treated with internal mammary node irradiation compared with those not receiving it. Furthermore, the PhD project comprehensively evaluated and documented the quality of internal mammary node irradiation in Denmark.

Lastly, the DBCG IMN2 cohort was used to investigate the indication for another radiotherapy treatment modality: a boost to the tumour bed after breast-conserving surgery. These data have changed the Danish guidelines to recommend a tumour-bed boost to all breast cancer patients with ER-/HER2- tumours, regardless of age.

The summary is written by the PhD student. 

The defence is public and takes place in auditorium A, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Anders W. Mølby Nielsen
Mail: awmnielsen@oncology.au.dk 
Phone: +45 26253369

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