J Korean Surg Soc.  1998 Sep;55(3):314-349.

Breast-Conserving Surgery With or Without Radiation Therapy for Early Breast Cancer

• Hong SG
• Lee JH
• Lee SK
• Yoon SO

Abstract

Breast conserving surgery (BCS) with radiation therapy (RT) has been considered an alternative to a radical mastectomy in the surgical treatment of early breast cancer. Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) can achieve a more favorable cosmetic outcome than a mastectomy in patients with early breast cancer. However, it is widely recognized that RT following BCS is an impediment to improve the cosmetic outcome of a BCT-treated breast. If the local recurrence (LR) rate is acceptable and LR can be controlled with salvage surgery, an appropriate conservative surgical procedure without RT will be a reasonable option for some patients with early breast cancer. Between 1990 and 1996, 60 patients were enrolled in a retrospective study to examine whether or not RT could be avoided following conservative surgery in patients with early breast cancer. There was no significant difference in local recurrence rate between the RT and the non-RT groups (6.3% vs 10.7%). The characteristics of suitable BCS without RT would be negative axillary lymph-node metastasis, low nuclear grade, a 1 cm negative resection margin and no lymphatic vessel involvement. In conclusion, breast-conserving surgery without RT is a reasonable option for some patients with early breast cancer.

Keyword

Breast cancer; Breast-conserving surgery; Radiation therapy

MeSH Terms

Animals
Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Cicatrix
Colon*
Colon, Transverse
Colorectal Surgery
Defecation
Fibrosis
Foreign-Body Reaction
Humans
Lymphatic Vessels
Male
Mastectomy
Mastectomy, Radical
Mastectomy, Segmental*
Methods
Neoplasm Metastasis
Rectum
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Swine
Telangiectasis
Tensile Strength