Local recurrence of breast carcinoma after mastectomy and radiotherapy

19% of 102 operable cases of breast carcinoma irradiated postoperatively developed local recurrences in the thoracic wall and/or regional lymph nodes during the observation time of five years. Of the 41 radically operated cases of stage I disease only one had recurrence in the chest wall and three metastases in the regional lymph nodes. As the number of local recurrences after mastectomy and evacuation of the axilla combined with postoperative irradiation was fairly small if compared with the results achieved with conservative surgery and irradiation presented in literature, the radical treatment schedule is recommended even in stage I breast carcinoma. The local reappearance of carcinoma is always strenuous for the patient even if the prognosis of a local recurrence after conservative surgery is better than that of the local recurrence after mastectomy.