Role of radiotherapy in the management of breast cancer.

There is no subject as controversial as the treatment of early breast cancer in spite of 90,000 new cases per year and more than 30,000 deaths per year in the USA alone. Radical mastectomy has been in practice for over 80 years. Radiotherapy, alone, was used 50 years ago. Today, however, we are unable to state which is the method of choice in the management of early breast cancer. Radiotherapy did not become popular as the primary treatment modality during the radium and orthovoltage era because of technical problems. These technical problems have been overcome during the afterloading and supervoltage era. Unfortunately, we do not have a large series in radiotherapy to compare with those of 80 years of radical mastectomies. Until such time, radiotherapy will play an adjuvant and palliative role in the management of breast cancer patients.