[Evaluation of efficacy of different modes of treatment in primary operable breast cancer (author's transl)].

In the 10 year-period 1960--1969, 888 patients with primary operable mammary cancer were treated in the P. A. Herzen Oncological Institute. Survival rates after 5 years were analyzed for 888 patients, 10 year rates for 410 patients. Irrespective of the size of the primary tumor, 82.3% of those without regional lymphnode metastases survived 5 years whereas only 44.7 percent of patients with regional lymphnode metastases were cured for more than 5 years. The 5-year survival rate was 84.2 percent for surgical treatment only, 58.6--78.9% for combined treatment (radical mastectomy plus irradiation) and 51.5--31.4% for so-called complex treatment (surgery + irradiation + hormonal or cytostatic treatment). It is concluded that breast cancer is curable if detected and treated in an early stage but that results of treatment in advanced stages are unsatisfactory also if all contemporary available methods of therapy are applied.