Management of carcinoma breast with conservative surgery and radiation therapy-experience in a developing country

Between 1980 and 1987, 14 patients with breast cancer who refused mastectomy were treated at the V.N. Cancer Centre, Coimbatore, with excision of the lump, followed by radiation therapy and adjuvant chemotherapy/hormonal therapy. No attempt was made to boost the tumour bed with interstitial implants or electron beam for want of these facilities. No patient developed local or loco-regional disease or distant metastases during the period of follow-up which ranged between 10 and 76 months. Ten of the 14 patients have been followed up for more than two years. Most published data on breast-conserving treatment for cancer breast are from the U.S., UK and Europe. There are not many papers published from the developing countries. This paper gives an insight into this subject in the developing countries.