Kumar P P
J Natl Med Assoc. 1977 Nov;69(11):787-92.
There is no subject as controversial as the treatment of early breast cancer in spite of 90,000 new cases per year and more than 30,000 deaths per year in the USA alone. Radical mastectomy has been in practice for over 80 years. Radiotherapy, alone, was used 50 years ago. Today, however, we are unable to state which is the method of choice in the management of early breast cancer. Radiotherapy did not become popular as the primary treatment modality during the radium and orthovoltage era because of technical problems. These technical problems have been overcome during the afterloading and supervoltage era. Unfortunately, we do not have a large series in radiotherapy to compare with those of 80 years of radical mastectomies. Until such time, radiotherapy will play an adjuvant and palliative role in the management of breast cancer patients.
尽管仅在美国每年就有9万例新发病例和超过3万例死亡病例，但没有哪个话题比早期乳腺癌的治疗更具争议性。根治性乳房切除术已经实施了80多年。50年前就开始单独使用放射疗法。然而，如今我们无法指出早期乳腺癌治疗的首选方法是什么。在镭和高压X线时代，由于技术问题，放射疗法并未成为主要的治疗方式。这些技术问题在后装和超高压时代已得到克服。不幸的是，我们没有大量的放射治疗病例系列可与80年的根治性乳房切除术病例系列进行比较。在此之前，放射疗法将在乳腺癌患者的治疗中发挥辅助和姑息作用。
