Surgical techniques in breast conservation

The surgical treatment of breast cancer has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. The era of the Halsted radical mastectomy has passed, and less deforming surgeries have come into use. Partial mastectomy in association with axillary lymph node dissection has become a viable alternative for stage 1 and 2 carcinomas; more advanced tumors may be treated with breast conservative surgery when neoadjuvant chemotherapy is utilized. Further, the use of mammography in screening for breast cancer has led to an increase in the diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), another lesion for which breast conservation is often indicated.