Surgical treatment for early breast cancer: should the patient decide?

Conservative surgery followed by a course of radiotherapy has been shown to be as effective as mastectomy in terms of survival and disease-free interval. This has led to an increase in the number of surgeons who undertake conservative surgery for early breast cancer. However, some studies have shown that, when offered a choice of surgery, some women elect mastectomy. Such results highlight the need for patients to be fully involved in the decision made about surgery, especially in the circumstances where there is more than one surgical option and a choice of surgery can be offered.