Surgical options in 424 patients with primary breast cancer without systemic metastases
W. H. Wolberg
Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53792.
Mastectomy was dictated by medical considerations in about 40% of 424
consecutive patients who had invasive breast cancer with no evidence of
systemic metastases. Half of the women considered suitable for local
excision of the breast cancer followed by radiotherapy (conservation)
elected to have mastectomy, and intraoperative findings dictated mastectomy
in about 20% of those electing conservation. Consequently, conservation was
accomplished in about one quarter of those treated for breast cancer.
Younger rather than older women more frequently expressed the desire for
breast conservation.
