Results of partial mastectomy in 173 patients followed for from five to ten years.

A series of 173 selected patients was treated by partial mastectomy. Eighteen per cent of these also had axillary dissection and another 18 per cent were irradiated. The survival rate at five years was 76 per cent. In the earlier patients, despite adverse selection in terms of age and associated disease, 44 per cent survived for ten years. Twenty per cent of these patients required some form of additional treatment for the control of local or regional disease, but mastectomy was required in only 7.5 per cent. In the others, the cosmetic results were good. Although there is an increased risk of local or regional reappearance of the cancer that may require secondary treatment, partial mastectomy is a satisfactory method of treatment for selected patients with carcinoma of the breast who wish to have some of the breast tissue preserved. These patients should be warned of the increased risk of having to have a second operation for local recurrence, but they can be assured that, in terms of survival, the results seem comparable with those reported after total mastectomy. It is possible that the use of excisional biopsy and axillary sampling followed by external and interstitial radiation with iridium seeds may further increase our ability to save the breast.