A retrospective study of optimal surgical management for occult breast carcinoma: Mastectomy or quadrantectomy?

The diagnosis and treatment for occult breast carcinoma (OBC) remain controversial because of no detectable primary lesions. We aimed to analyze optimal surgical management for OBC.A total of 26 female patients diagnosed with OBC, which were based on available criteria, were collected at a single clinic center from January 2005 to May 2016. We classified all patients into 4 groups: group A1, mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) + radiotherapy (RT); group A2, mastectomy with ALND; group B1, quadrantectomy with ALND + RT; group B2, quadrantectomy with ALND. Patient characteristics, disease-free survival, and overall survival were compared between groups.There were 14 cases in group A1, 5 cases in group A2, 4 cases in group B1, and 3 cases in group B2. Baseline characteristics were similar among groups. Compared with OBC patients treated with quadrantectomy, the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rate of those treated with mastectomy had significantly improved (A1 vs. B1, DFS: hazard ratio [HR] 0.018, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.001-0.241, P = .002; OS: HR 0.002, 95% CI 0.000-0.102, P = .002). Patients treated with radiotherapy had higher local recurrence and OS rate compared with patients treated with no radiotherapy on univariate survival analysis (A1 vs. A2, DFS: HR 0.018, 95% CI 0.001-0.240, P = .002; OS: HR 0.005, 95% CI 0.000-0.170, P = .003).The diagnosis of OBC will need continuous improvement with advances of diagnostic breast imaging. Modified radical mastectomy + RT is still a safe and effective choice.