Comparative efficacy of intraoperative radiotherapy and external boost irradiation in early-stage breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

External boost radiotherapy (EBRT) and intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) are shown to be effective in patients with early-stage breast cancer. However, the difference between IORT and EBRT for patients’ prognosis remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to investigate differences in local recurrence (LR), distant metastases, disease free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) between these two therapies. We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science and Embase, from inception to Jan 10th, 2022. We used The Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool to assess the risk of bias of the included studies, and the STATA15.0 tool was used for the meta-analyses. Eight studies were ultimately included. Meta-analysis demonstrated that there was an inconsistent finding in the long-term risk of LR between the two radiotherapies, and there was no significant difference in short-term risk of LR, the metastasis rate, DFS, and OS IORT would be more convenient, less time-consuming, less costly, and more effective at reducing side effects and toxicity. However, these benefits must be balanced against the potential for increased risk of LR in the long term.