title: Surgical treatment of early breast cancer in day surgery.
abstract: Quadrantectomy and associated sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is currently employed in most breast surgery centres as the gold standard in the treatment of early breast cancer. This approach has a modest morbidity and can usually be performed in a day-surgery regimen, leading to best acceptance by the patients. This reports outlines the experience of our Breast Unit with quadrantectomy and SLNB in day surgery for early breast cancer. One hundred patients presenting to our institution with primary invasive breast cancer measuring less than 3 cm and clinically negative axillary nodes underwent quadrantectomy and SLNB in day surgery. For 60 women with breast cancer the sentinel node was negative, so the only definitive surgical treatment was performed in the day-surgery regimen; 40 patients with positive sentinel nodes were hospitalised a second time for axillary dissection. In these patients that needed clearance of the axilla, SLNB was performed on the only positive node in 22 cases (55%). None of the patients admitted for quadrantectomy and SLNB in day surgery required re-hospitalisation after discharge. All patients proved to be fully satisfied with early discharge from hospital when questioned on the occasion of subsequent monitoring. Short-stay surgical programs in early invasive breast cancer treatment are feasible today owing to the availability of less invasive approaches such as quadrantectomy and SLNB. There are two main pointers to a distinct advantage for this kind of approach, i.e. recovery and psychological adjustment. Recovery from surgery is faster and the patient tends to play down the seriousness of the operation and to have a better mental attitude to neoplastic disease. Moreover, when performing quadrantectomy with SLNB in day surgery fewer than 50% of breast cancer patients (40% in our experience) require another surgical treatment, concluding the surgery in a single session.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Oncology and Clinical Application, University of Palermo, Palermo.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marrazzo
authors.forename: Pietra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Taormina
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Ignazio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Riili
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lo Gerfo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Casà
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noto
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mercadante
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D001365:Axilla; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000601:surgery; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D012802:Sicily; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor