“Radiation has long played a role in the treatment of breast cancer, though doctors have used it more sparingly in early-stage disease in recent years, as advances in diagnostics and treatment have improved survival rates.

Now a new study with an unusually long follow-up period has found that radiation to the chest wall made absolutely no difference in survival among women with early-stage breast cancer who had been treated with mastectomy, lymph-node surgery and advanced anti-cancer drugs.

The results of the large, randomized clinical trial were published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.”

From New York Times.