Standardization of the surgical technique in breast-conserving treatment of mammary cancer

Abstract

A number of designations—for example excision, wide excision, lumpectomy, tylectomy, extended tylectomy, partial mastectomy, tumorectomy, segmental resection and quadrantectomy—have been applied to operative procedures aimed at treating mammary carcinoma with preservation of the breast. None of them, however, has been explicitly linked to a defined surgical technique and there is no consensus about the terminology. We propose a simple classification system for breast-conserving procedures, which can facilitate the communication between surgeons and the interpretation and exchange of scientific data. We also describe a strictly defined and locally radical partial mastectomy—a sector resection—which has been used at several centres in Sweden for more than 5 years with a favourable outcome so far in terms of local tumour control and the cosmetic result.