The acceptable delay between biopsy and radical mastectomy in breast cancer patients.

The effects on the prognosis of breast cancer, of the delay between biopsy and radical mastectomy were studied in 394 patients. No delay had been experienced by 148 cases (no delay group), no biopsy had been performed in 166 cases (no biopsy group) and 80 cases had experienced a delay of 1 day or longer after having had a biopsy taken at a different institution (delay group). The recurrence rate of the no delay group was 10.8 per cent (16/148), whereas that of the delay group was 18.8 per cent (15/80). The relapse free survival rate of the no delay group was superior to that of the delay group (Kaplan Meier's method: p less than 0.05). The delay group was further divided into two groups according to the duration of delay, namely: a group whose delay was less than 7 days and another whose delay was longer than 8 days. There was no significant difference between the relapse free survival rates of the no delay group and the less than 7 days group, however, a significant difference was observed between the no delay group and the longer than 8 days delay group (p less than 0.05). The acceptable delay between biopsy and radical mastectomy may therefore be concluded as less than 7 days.