Conservative surgery with radiation therapy in clinical stage I and II breast cancer. Results of a 20-year experience

• Published in: Archives of surgery (Chicago. 1960) Vol. 124; no. 11; p. 1266
• Main Authors: Haffty, B G, Goldberg, N B, Rose, M, Heil, B, Fischer, D, Beinfield, M, McKhann, C, Weissberg, J B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.1989
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Lymphatic Metastasis; Mammography; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - diagnosis; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - therapy; Neoplasm Staging; Physical Examination; Reoperation
• ISSN: 0004-0010
• DOI: 10.1001/archsurg.1989.01410110020003

Conservative surgery and radiation therapy have been increasingly utilized at Yale-New Haven (Conn) Hospital since the 1960s. This analysis represents our experience from 1962 to 1982, with a total of 281 patients having a minimum assessable follow-up of five years and a median follow-up of 7.4 years. Five- and ten-year actuarial survivals were 83% and 67%, respectively. The actuarial breast recurrence-free rate was 91% at five years and 80% at ten years. Of 31 patients having recurrences in the breast alone, the actuarial five-year survival following recurrence was 48%. Twenty-eight (90%) of these 31 recurrences were salvageable with mastectomy or repeated wedge resection. Patients experiencing an early breast recurrence (less than three years) following initial treatment had a poorer prognosis than patients having recurrences later.