Treatment of breast cancer: past, present, and future

We have gone through a period when radical surgery for breast cancer was accepted without question. Next there was a period in which radiation was used almost routinely after operations. Now chemotherapy is in high vogue. We are still in a period of transition, with a momentum toward simpler, often breast-saving, operations, usually with axillary dissection and often with added radiation. When mastectomy is performed, reconstruction of the breast is an option for those who want it. Today we can safely say that no woman need live without a breast unless she prefers to do so. The final choice of treatment now rests with the patient.