title: Comparison of breast-conserving therapy with mastectomy for treatment of early breast cancer in community hospitals.
abstract: Although the results of clinical trials support breast-conserving therapy as a replacement for mastectomy in early breast cancer, the question remains whether these results apply in routine clinical practice. In the present analysis the breast cancer-specific survival and recurrence-free survival of 464 consecutive patients with breast tumors < or = 3 cm across undergoing breast-conserving therapy were compared with a group of 459 patients with similar extent of disease and period of diagnosis undergoing mastectomy. All patients were treated in community hospitals in the south-eastern Netherlands. Median follow-up of both treatment groups was 6.2 years. After adjustment for the prognostic effects of age, tumour size, axillary nodal status and adjuvant systemic therapy, neither breast cancer-specific survival nor recurrence-free survival differed significantly between the breast-conserving therapy group and the mastectomy group. This finding indicates that in routine clinical practice breast-conserving therapy may be as effective as mastectomy.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Centre South, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Voogd
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Nab
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Crommelin
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: van der Heijden
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kluck
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Coebergh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009426:Netherlands; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome