title: Multifocal and multicentric breast cancer: is breast conserving surgery acceptable?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of our study was to evaluate the significance of multifocal (MF) and multicentric (MC) breast cancer in the diagnosis and treatment of this condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study was a combination of clinical and laboratory data. The patient population consisted of 274 women operated on with Madden mastectomy for breast cancer. Assessed were the following parameters: age, menstrual status, histopathological parameters, HER-2 status, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status, disease stage, quadrant(s) in which breast cancer was detected and axillary lymph nodes status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 274 patients 206 (85%) has unifocal disease, 41 (15%) suffered of MF (n=27; 9.9%)/MC (n=14; 5.1%) disease. MC disease was associated with metastatic axillary lymph nodes in 92.9% of the cases. MF/MC cases were primarily dependent on histology. MF/MC cancer was best related to the lobular type (85.7% of the cases), while ductal histological type was characteristic of unifocal tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quadrantectomy as a form of conservative breast surgery is acceptable in cases of MF tumors, because all tumor foci can be removed. We suggest radical surgical treatment in all cases of suspected MC tumors because they are most often associated with metastasis to the axillary lymph nodes. Lobular histology characterizes MC breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Center Kragujevac, Clinic for Surgery, Kragujevac, Serbia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ninkovic
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ninkovic
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cvetkovic
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cvetkovic
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nedovic
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milosevic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human