[Endoscopic breast surgery for breast cancer].

Since 1995, endoscopic breast surgery (EBS) has been gradually established in Japan. Establishment of EBS was inextricably linked to explosive development of instruments for endoscopic surgery and profound theoretical understanding, how to perform broad & stable dissection of the compact connective tissue thorough small incisions. EBS consisted chiefly of two procedures added to breast and axilla and procedures to breast is classified into three methods according to incisions, axillar, periareolar and combined incisions. With EBS technique, any kind breast surgery, sentinel node biopsy, reconstruction, augmentation, and benign tumor excision, could be performed through same skin incisions. Curability of breast cancer EBS is same as that with conventional method and local recurrence rate after total and partial mastectomy. All breast cancer without skin involvement of cancer would be candidate for EBS. To minimize invasiveness of treatment and maintain cosmetic outcome of breast, combination treatment of ablation treatment, EBS and evolution of radiation therapy would be important.