# DBCG 82b and 82c

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/dbcg-82bc/  
OnCo record `dbcg-82bc` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The Danish postmastectomy trials proved that radiotherapy to the chest wall and nodes after mastectomy not only prevents local recurrence but saves lives in women with node-positive disease.

## Summary

DBCG 82b randomised 1,708 premenopausal women with high-risk breast cancer to CMF chemotherapy with or without postmastectomy radiotherapy; 82c randomised 1,375 postmenopausal women to tamoxifen with or without radiotherapy. In 82b, ten-year locoregional recurrence fell from 32 to 9 percent and overall survival rose from 45 to 54 percent (Overgaard and colleagues, New England Journal of Medicine 1997); 82c showed the same pattern (Lancet 1999). Together with the British Columbia trial they established postmastectomy radiotherapy for node-positive disease.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: radiation-wave4
- Phase: 3
- Setting: High-risk breast cancer after mastectomy: postmastectomy radiotherapy added to systemic therapy (CMF in premenopausal, tamoxifen in postmenopausal women) versus systemic therapy alone
- Sponsor: Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group
- Enrolled: 3083
- Result: 82b: 10-year locoregional recurrence 9% vs 32%; overall survival 54% vs 45%.
- Outcomes: Overall survival at 10 years (82b): CMF plus postmastectomy radiotherapy 54% vs CMF alone 45%

## Sources

- NEJM 1997: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199710023371401

## Connected records

- cancers: [HER2-positive breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-her2-positive/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- technologies: [IMRT / IGRT (modern external beam)](https://onco.cc/technologies/imrt-igrt/)
- drugs: [Cyclophosphamide](https://onco.cc/drugs/cyclophosphamide/), [Fluorouracil (5-FU)](https://onco.cc/drugs/fluorouracil/), [Methotrexate](https://onco.cc/drugs/methotrexate/), [Tamoxifen](https://onco.cc/drugs/tamoxifen/)

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