[Breast preserving surgery]

Psychological damage caused by radical mastectomy should be taken into consideration from the point of view of quality of life, in addition to sequelae such as disturbance in movement of the shoulder, lymph edema of the arm. Surgery preserving breast is recommended for resolution of the problem. The histopathological study of eighty seven early breast cancer which is defined by 1.0 cm or less in diameter on palpation revealed that sixty seven patients (77 percent) really had a tumor measuring 1.0 cm or less in the surgical specimen and fifty two patients (60 percent) had an invasion into surrounding tissue limited within 2.0 cm from a border of tumor and three patients (3.5 percent) had an invasion to nipple. The data suggested a possibility of surgery preserving breast for patient with early breast cancer satisfied with following condition: tumor is less than 1.0 cm in diameter; it is situated at least 3.0 cm distant from nipple: no involvement palpable in the axilla: no multiple lesion is found on x.p. mammography and ultrasonography: area with minute punctate calcifications is limited in circle measuring 2.0 cm in diameter. Ten patients underwent subcutaneous mastectomy and four patients had quadrantectomy and axillary dissection. A patient had local recurrence, at median follow-up time twenty three months range from three months to 36 months.