What is the soonest you can start adjuvant whole breast radiation after surgery?
Do you typically aim to wait a certain amount of time to allow for healing? The range seems to be 4-6 weeks but 4 seems a bit early with potential seroma development.
Answer from: Radiation Oncologist at Academic Institution
My general preference is 4-6 weeks (up to 8 weeks) expecting normal healing. I rarely start sooner than 4 due to healing concerns (even if things look good) and have only done this (starting 3-4 weeks post op) a few times due to extenuating circumstances, and only if the healing appears adequate. I ...
Answer from: Radiation Oncologist at Academic Institution
The healing concerns are all valid. We wait 4 weeks (due to the additional below practical anecdotal reasons), and aim to start within 12 weeks.
Path report takes several business days to be returned.
OncotypeDX takes about 2-3 weeks to return.
Patients like to see their surgeon post-op to disc...
Answer from: Radiation Oncologist at Academic Institution
The patient must be healed prior to starting. Typically, this occurs around 3-4 weeks. The risk of poor wound healing and infection is greatly increased when starting before the wound is healed.