Does local therapy affect survival rates in breast cancer?

The goal of this study was to challenge the hypothesis that local recurrence of breast cancer does not affect survival rates, by determining whether survival rates differ for conservative and radical surgical policies.

This study used prospective long-term follow-up monitoring of two contemporaneous groups of patients, within a single unit, who were treated identically except for the one variable of local treatment policy, i.e., conservative or radical. A total of 451 patients with operable breast cancer were chosen from 567 consecutive patients with breast cancer who were treated between 1970 and 1979 in the University Department of Surgery. The rate of survival 132 months after treatment was used as an outcome measure.

Two hundred forty-one patients were treated using a conservative approach and 210 were treated using a radical approach. At 132 months, the survival rate (58% vs. 42%) and median survival time (> 132 vs. 100 months) were significantly improved for the radically treated group (P < .01). The treatment groups were comparable in terms of age, menopausal status, tumor size, histologic grading, and Nottingham Prognostic Index values. The advantage of the radical policy persisted when examined in relation to each of these prognostic factors.

Use of radical local treatment yielded a highly significant survival benefit (comparable to that obtained with adjuvant therapy), compared with a conservative approach. This was related to a reduced locoregional recurrence rate and provides evidence that local therapy influences long-term outcomes for patients with breast cancer. High-quality locoregional control should be emphasized, as is systemic therapy, in management policies. Assessment of surgical techniques, particularly in relation to locoregional recurrence rates, should be included in all studies in which surgery is a component of therapy.