Carcinoma of the breast: pathological criteria as an aid in treatment

Pathologic and clinical features of a group of breast cancer patients were studied in an effort to find out if the prognosis of any individual case of breast cancer could be assessed preoperatively. The size, location, type of tumor, histologic grade and presence or absence of metastatic nodes were studied. Unfortunately, it was not possible to predict the prognosis with any degree of accuracy. We must agree with Haagensen, who said, "The truth is that we already know enough regarding the inferiority of lumpectomy and simple mastectomy, with or without supplementary irradiation, to conclude that it is not wise or humane to condemn a woman to be treated with these methods."