Radiotherapy after mastectomy benefits women with breast cancer that has spread to just a few lymph nodes

Women whose breast cancer has spread to just a few lymph nodes under their arm are less likely to have their disease recur or to die from it if they have radiotherapy after mastectomy, according to new research to be presented at the European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-9) and published in The Lancet.Dr Paul McGale will tell the meeting that, until now, there has been uncertainty over whether women with early breast cancer that has spread to just one, two or three lymph nodes under the arm gain any benefit from radiotherapy after surgery.