Preventing relapses of breast cancer with modified radical mastectomy.

Better prevention and early detection have improved the percentage of early cancers among all the treated breast tumors to about 40%. After the first demonstration in Milan in 1981 that even conservative surgery can effectively prevent tumor relapses, radical and modified radical mastectomy was compared in 136 and 127 women, respectively. The groups were well stratified as regards age, menopause, T- and N-status. No difference was found in 10-yr survival (58.8 and 59.8%, respectively) or local relapses (9.5 and 10%, respectively) or general relapses. The median disease-free survival was 10 yr in both groups. The results suggest that in T1-T2a, N0-N1b M0 unilateral breast cancer relapses are prevented as effectively with modified radical as with radical mastectomy.