Nonmastectomy treatment of breast cancer

Preview

A better understanding of the biology of breast cancer has changed the approach to treatment greatly in the last 15 years. The combination of advanced understanding and improved radiologic and surgical techniques now allows the thousands of women diagnosed as having breast cancer each year to choose breast-sparing treatment rather than mastectomy. In this article, Dr Lichter summarizes the evolution of beliefs about and treatment of breast cancer during this century. He describes the technique of tumor excision plus radiation, discusses which patients have the best results with this technique, and compares reports by various investigators to determine its efficacy.