[Case reports of operative management of very large, benign phylloid tumors--is a safety margin necessary?]

The phylloid tumor (PT, formerly called cystosarcoma phylloides) is a rare neoplasia of the female breast. Usually the PT is treated with breast-conserving surgery. In spite of progress in early diagnosis, PTs recur frequently--independently of tumor's degree of malignancy. Especially in cases of malignant PT, complete resection with tumor-free margins is seen as the only predictive marker for tumor recurrence or metastases. Benign PT is also often resected with wide tumor-free margins. Because of the tumor's occasionally enormous dimensions, this therapy concept makes breast-conserving surgery almost impossible. A simple enucleation of benign PT is an option to facilitate the preservation of breast tissue and a cosmetically satisfactory breast reconstruction. In the case of particularly large benign PT, enucleation even without wide margins prevents tumor recurrence.