The Canadian breast IMRT clinical trial accrued 358 subjects between July 2003 to March 2005. Those subjects were randomised between standard radiotherapy using 2D wedge compensation and breast IMRT. Subjects were treated in Toronto, Ontario, or in Victoria, British Columbia. Subjects and assessors were carefully blinded to the treatment arm. The clinical trial was funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) and one of the four objectives of the application was to "To record late skin toxicity occurrence, fibrosis and telangiectasia, in women receiving breast IMRT and conventional irradiation technique".
The investigators are proposing to invite women who participated in the trial to return to their treatment centre during 2011-2013 for a follow-up assessment at eight years after randomisation to record relevant long-term outcomes including the effect of improved homogeneity with IMRT on the occurrence of late radiation therapy side-effects cosmetic outcome and Quality of Life.