Radical mastectomy in the aged female

Of 142 female patients over age 75 at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, 58 underwent radical mastectomy and 40 simple mastectomy for primary breast cancer. After five years, 19 per cent of the radical mastectomy group were cancer-free compared with 35 per cent of the simple mastectomy group. The gross five-year survival rates were 50 per cent and 47 per cent respectively. In the radical mastectomy group, when the axillary nodes did not show cancer at the time of operation, there have been no known recurrences and 70 per cent of the patients have survived at least five years. There was no surgical mortality. These findings support the view that until more controlled data are available, radical mastectomy is still the preferred therapy for primary breast cancer.