[Evolution of radiotherapy of cancer of the breast]

A many-year-old study of 3680 breast cancer patients receiving different types of radiation therapy as part of combined or multimodality treatment led to the following conclusions. Surgical intervention used alone or the first stage of combined treatment was found appropriate for stage I only. The most preferable modality in all cases was preoperative irradiation provided in large fractional regimens for operable tumors and, when possible, in combination with UHF-therapy; the use of common fractions with the incorporation of a primary focus and all zones of regional metastatic spreading in the zone of radiation exposure was found appropriate for inoperable tumors.