[Conservative surgery in breast carcinoma]

The authors evaluate recent trends in the treatment of breast cancer, i.e. trends manifested in this country more markedly since the beginning of the nineties.

In 1993 the authors were able to perform local surgery of breast cancer in 36% of the operated patients, in 1994 in 38% and in 1995 in as many as 48%. During this period they operated 39 patients stereotactically for an non-palpable breast lesion. The ratio of non-palpable lesions which proved to be carcinomas was 5% in 1994 and 9% in 1995. The increasing number of local operations is due to earlier diagnosis and the fact that at the beginning of the nineties investigations were published which provided evidence that in selected indications local surgery along with further oncological treatment have after a five- to ten-year interval comparable results as patients after radical operations.

In not advanced breast tumours in the 1st and 2nd clinical stage, i.e. tumours not larger than 2 to 4 cm, local extirpation of the tumour along with axillary lymphadenectomy and irradiation or possibly other oncological treatment achieves comparable patient survival as mastectomy.