[Surgical treatment of breast cancer--2009]

The oncological surgery of the breast has changed in several aspects in the last two decades. The reasons are, first of all, the so-called biological approach to curing, cancer screening, the development of surgical technique and the daily use of quality assurance principles. We witness a paradigm-change again, and the essence of it is that the maximally radical treatment is replaced by the conception of a minimal but sufficient surgical treatment. Instead of being down-graded, surgery as a profession is more and more appreciated and remains still determinant in the treatment of breast cancer.