According to Reuters, more intense courses of a shorter radiation treatment are as successful as more extensive therapy for patients with early-stage breast cancer.

In a study, the treatment with radiation lasted for one to three weeks, compared to standard therapy, which lased for five to seven weeks, said two teams of researchers during a meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

In the shorter treatment, called accelerated hypofractionated whole breast irradiation, about 1,200 women were assigned to one of the two groups: accelerated radiation treatment and standard therapy.

The alternative treatment involves three weeks of daily visits, each lasting 15 minutes, in contrast with five weeks of standard therapy. In addition, the shorter treatment is two-thirds of the cost of the standard whole breast radiation. Also, it is cheaper than other new treatment methods of breast cancer, such as partial breast irradiation.

Following a period of 10 to 12 years, the disease recurred in 6.2% of patients who followed the accelerated radiation therapy, whereas the cases of recurrence in patients treated with standard therapy happened in 6.7% of patients.

"We were surprised that the risk of local recurrence and side effects for women treated with accelerated whole breast irradiation was so low even at 12 years," asserted the lead author, Dr. Timothy Whelan of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Worldwide, breast cancer is the main cause of cancer death among women; last year, an estimated 465,000 women passed away from the disease, according to a report released by the American Cancer Society.