Breast-conserving surgery for T3/T4 breast cancer: an analysis of 196 patients.
BACKGROUND
Breast conservation therapy (BCT) increases quality of life and self-esteem of breast cancer patients. In special cancer centers up to 90% of patients are treated with BCT. T3/T4 breast cancer is one of the few contraindications for BCT. However, retrospective data suggest that BCT may be eligible in selected cases of T3/T4 breast cancer.


METHODS
We analyzed retrospectively 196 breast cancer patients (operated between 1995 and 2004) suffering from T3/T4 tumors and compared BCT and radiotherapy with mastectomy in these patients in terms of overall survival (OS), local recurrence free-survival (LRFS) and breast cancer-related death (BCRD).


RESULTS
Demographic data showed no significant differences in prognostic factors between patients treated with mastectomy compared with BCT. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated no significant difference for OS, LRFS and BCRD between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data strongly suggest that BCT with R0 resection followed by radiotherapy is feasible in patients with T3/T4 breast cancer. Prospective studies have to be performed to further investigate this issue.
Fitzal
Florian
F
Department of Surgery, Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1080 Vienna, Austria. florian.fitzal@meduniwien.ac.at
Riedl
Otto
O
Wutzl
Lisa
L
Draxler
Wolfgang
W
Rudas
Margaretha
M
Pluschnig
Ursula
U
Handl-Zeller
Leonore
L
Dubsky
Peter
P
Bachleitner-Hofmann
Thomas
T
Steger
Günther
G
Jakesz
Raimund
R
Gnant
Michael
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000379:methods; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis