title: Mastectomy performed by Lawrence Heister in the eighteenth century.
abstract: In 1720, Heister successfully removed a massive tumor of the breast. The lesion was probably a massive cystosarcoma phylloides rather than infiltrating carcinoma of the duct. His thorough description reveals that patients and surgeons have changed little in two and one-half centuries.
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000266:history*; D003557:Phyllodes Tumor / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery