Dr. Shannon MacDonald, Co-Chair of the RadComp Study, presented Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) findings of RadComp participants who completed one-month and six-month post radiation therapy questionnaires at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) on September 29th , in San Francisco.
RadComp is the first randomized study comparing photon therapy and proton therapy for breast cancer. Before and after receiving radiation therapy, RadComp participants completed questionnaires on such topics as physical, social, emotional and functional well-being, including cosmetic satisfaction. The results showed no significant differences in fatigue, satisfaction, or cosmetic outcomes between the two study arms.
“Patients should feel reassured that they can receive high-quality care with either photon or proton therapy,” said Shannon MacDonald, MD, FASTRO, clinical chair of the trial and medical director at the Southwest Florida Proton Center. “More than a thousand patients in our trial have now shown that, with contemporary treatments, we can deliver curative radiation in a way that preserves multiple aspects of quality of life.”
Dr. MacDonald concluded, “Health-related quality of life is a very important endpoint for our patients. In this trial, it was overall excellent and largely equivalent between the two treatment arms.”
The RadComp Study continues to follow participants to collect information on long-term outcomes, cancer control and major cardiovascular events, which are expected be reported in 2028 and 2032, respectively.
Reference: Data derived from MacDonald SM, et al. Abstract LBA 01. Presented at: ASTRO Annual Meeting; September 29, 2025; San Francisco.
Photo: ASTRO Daily News, September 30, 2025.