Conservation surgery for breast cancer

Advances in early diagnosis of breast cancer have allowed most patients to come to treatment at an early stage (in the US in 1993, 75% of cases were stage I-II). In these cases, conservation surgery has played in the last two decades the role of first choice thearpy following randomized studies which definitely showed the same safety and effectiveness as compared to conventional mastectomy. In time, indications for breast conservation therapy underwent modifications as for the size and site of primary tumor, and the presence of concomitant metastases to ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes. Absolute contraindications are still a multicentric diseases, and the presence of diffuse microcalcifications, while tumors over 3 cm in diameter may be amenable to conservation therapy with primary chemotherapy, retroareolar tumors can be resected with central quadrantectomy and clinically evident axillary metastases do not influence local treatment. There are still open problems as for the extent of peritumoral parenchymal excision, indications for complementary radiotherapy and axillary lymphadenectomy.