Long-term Breast Tumor Control with Brachytherapy and External Beam Radiotherapy: A Case Report

Appalanaido, Gokula Kumar; Abdul Aziz, Mohd Zahri; Hussin, Hasmah; Abdul Shukor, Syadwa; Roslan, Noor Diana; Ishak, Nor Hafizah; A. Karim, Noor Khairiah; Yogabalan, Keerthaanaa

doi:10.30476/mejc.2025.103394.2137

Long-term Breast Tumor Control with Brachytherapy and External Beam Radiotherapy: A Case Report

Document Type : Case Report(s)

Authors

Gokula Kumar Appalanaido ¹

Mohd Zahri Abdul Aziz ²

Hasmah Hussin ³

Syadwa Abdul Shukor ⁴

Noor Diana Roslan ⁵

Nor Hafizah Ishak ¹

Noor Khairiah A. Karim ²

Keerthaanaa Yogabalan ¹

¹ Oncology and Radiotherapy Unit, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang

² Department of Biomedical Imaging, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang

³ Department of Clinical Medicine, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang

⁴ National University Cancer Institute, Radiation Oncology

⁵ Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah

https://doi.org/10.30476/mejc.2025.103394.2137

Abstract

While surgical resection of the primary tumour and regional nodes is part of the standard algorithm for the treatment of early-stage invasive breast carcinomas, not all patients are surgical candidates or agree for surgery. This case report is about one such patient who refused surgery for a biopsy confirmed in the 7^th edition of the tumour, nodes, metastases (TNM) Classification System (TNM7) T2N1M0 left breast infiltrative ductal carcinoma with estrogen receptor/ progesterone receptor positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative for personal reasons.
A 39-year-old lady presented with left breast mass at upper outer quadrant, which confirmed to be infiltrative ductal carcinoma with Luminal A sub-type from the biopsy report. Despite the early stage of breast cancer, she refused for surgery because of personal reasons. Therefore, she underwent 12 cycles of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy to the left breast and regional nodes to a dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions (fx) and further high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy boost of 16 Gy in 1 fx to the 2.0 × 2.0 cm residual lesion. After the completion of the treatment, the patient was on 20 mg tablet Tamoxifen daily.
During follow-up, there was a residual fibrotic lesion in the left breast from the computed tomography scan, and there was a doubt on the nature of the lesion. Thus, the patient was subjected to excision of the lesion and regional nodes, which showed a pathological complete response of three years after the completion of HDR brachytherapy. While surgery is the standard of care, this case report shows that definitive HDR brachytherapy has a role in patients not suitable for surgery.

Highlights

Gokula Kumar Appalanaido (google scholar)

Hasmah Hussin (google scholar)

Keywords

Carcinoma

Ductal

Breast

Brachytherapy

Radiotherapy

Subjects

Cancer Treatment

THow to cite this article:

Appalanaido GK, Abdul Aziz MZ, Hussin H, Abdul Shukor S, Roslan ND, Ishak NH, Karim NKA, Yogabalan K. Long-term Breast Tumor Control with Brachytherapy and External Beam Radiotherapy: A Case Report. Middle East J Cancer. 2026; 17(1): 72-7. doi: 10.30476/mejc.2025.103394.2137.

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