[Controversies in breast conservation treatment for breast cancer]

Breast conservation treatment has become the standard treatment for early breast cancer patients, after the equivalence of mastectomy and breast conservation treatment was demonstrated in prospective, randomized trials and large retrospective studies. New questions, such as the feasibility of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in improving breast conserving rate, the appropriateness of breast conservation treatment in ductal carcinoma in situ, the effectiveness of radiation therapy in patients treated by breast conservation, and patient selection for breast conservation without radiation, are now being raised. Future work that needs to be done to answer these questions is discussed in this review.