Ten-year results of a comparison of conservation with mastectomy in the treatment of stage I and II breast cancer

A lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment may be just as effective in treating breast cancer as a mastectomy. A lumpectomy is a method of removing the tumor while preserving most of the breast. Of 237 women with breast cancer followed by the National Cancer Institute, 116 had received a mastectomy and 121 had a lumpectomy plus radiation. Ten-year survival rates were 77% in the lumpectomy group and 75% in the mastectomy group. Seventy-two percent of the women in the lumpectomy group were in remission at 10 years, compared to 69% of those in the mastectomy group. Eighteen patients in the lumpectomy group had a recurrence of cancer in the breast and were successfully treated with a mastectomy. Fifteen were disease-free three months to 10 years after the mastectomy. In both groups, women with smaller tumors and no spread of cancer to the lymph nodes had better survival rates.