[Breast cancer surgery in the third millenium]

Progress in health education and awareness by women of this disease, together with technical and diagnostic progresses, have contributed at the beginning of the third millenium to an earlier diagnosis and surgical treatment of breast cancer in women. In addition, a better understanding of the biology and development of this disease makes possible to achieve high cure rates with conservative surgery. This conservative surgery together wuth systematic analysis of sentinel adenopathy will allow cure in the future with only ample tumorectomies. For the few cases of advanced tumors, neoadjuvant therapies can be used; for multicentric cancers treated with total mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and prosthetic materials will be applied. Finally, progress in the understanding of genetics and advances in the field of tumor markers and receptors will help to establish indications for prophylactic syrgery in women considered at high risk for this disease.