Survival after surgical treatment of breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
The principle objective of locoregional treatment in breast cancer is to eradicate local disease in the breast and local lymph nodes. Surgery in breast cancer provides locoregional control of the disease by resection appropriate to oncological principles, i.e. complete resection with tumour-free margins. Type and extent of breast surgery is dependent on tumour stage; beyond that and even more importantly, prognosis of an individual patient depends upon its stage at diagnosis.


METHODS
We reviewed the current literature, working out stage-specific survival and disease-free survival (DFS). The reported data were considered, according to stage and type of surgery, and a clear survey up to 20 years after surgery was depicted. Additionally, we assessed quality of life after breast cancer surgery.


RESULTS
Overall survival (OS) rates after 5 years range from 93-84% in women diagnosed with stage I disease to 18% in women diagnosed with stage IV disease. In the management of stages I and II breast cancer, breast conservation with lumpectomy and radiation is a preferable alternative to mastectomy, with equivalent patient outcome. In stages III and IV breast cancer, surgery allows local control of the disease, but prognosis depends predominantly on the response to systemic treatment, as does prognosis in all breast cancer patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The reported data distributing patients outcome according to stage and surgical treatment provide a clear summary in order to estimate an individual patient's risk.
Department of Surgery, Vienna University Medical School, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria. susanne.taucher@univie.ac.at
Susanne
S
Taucher
Raimund
R
Jakesz
D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000379:methods*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011788:Quality of Life; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome