title: Breast-conserving therapy for early-stage breast cancer in Chinese women: a meta-analysis of case-control studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breast cancer has a high incidence worldwide, while Chinese patients have some special characteristics compared to Western patients. A meta-analysis was carried out to determine the effectiveness of breast-conserving therapy (BCT) or mastectomy therapy (MT) for early-stage breast cancers in Chinese women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A fully recursive literature search was conducted in the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database. Case-control trials were considered for inclusion. Analyses were carried out using the Review Manager software (RevMan, version 5.0).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The meta-analysis showed that the 3-year or 5-year overall survival, the locoregional recurrence rate, and the metastasis rate were not statistically different between the BCT group and the MT group, but the complication recurrence rate increased in the MT group. Subgroup analysis indicated that no significant differences were observed in the affected limb swelling recurrence rate between the BCT group and the MT group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BCT was the better choice than MT for Chinese women with early-stage breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Jiguang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000209:etiology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors