[The importance of early detection concerning treatment of cancer of the female breast (author's transl)].

This analysis of 1100 cases with cancer of the female breast treated by classical radical mastectomy demonstrates an improvement of the 5-year-survival-rate from 53,0% (1960-1964) to 61,2% (1968-1972). In this period we observed an increase of cases with cancernegative lymphnodes from 39,0% to 50,8%. This improvement is the result of earlier diagnosis because there has been no selection for surgical treatment during this period. Additional methods of treatment (irradiation, chemotherapy) are without convincing influence on survival rates. Therefore, earlier detection and radical surgical treatment will play the dominating role in the near future.