Lumpectomy Just as Effective as Mastectomy in the Treatment of Breast Cancer

New results from a long-term study of breast cancer patients reveal that patients who underwent lumpectomies fared just as well as patients who had mastectomies, according to a new study presented October 7, 2002, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Due to the lack of data with follow-up greater than 15 years on the outcomes of breast conservation versus mastectomy, researchers updated the results of a randomized, single-institution study.

In the original study, 247 patients with clinical stage I and II breast cancer were enrolled in the protocol and randomly assigned to undergo either modified radical mastectomy or lumpectomy, axillary dissection and radiation therapy. The patients who underwent randomization have now been followed for a median follow-up of 18.4 years.

At 18.4 years, the overall survival was 58 percent for patients assigned to mastectomy and 54 percent for patients assigned to lumpectomy plus radiation. There was no statistically significant difference in survival between the two groups. Disease-free survival at 18 years was 67 percent for the patients assigned to mastectomy and 63 percent for those assigned to lumpectomy plus radiation.

"These findings contribute to the growing body of research that suggests that lumpectomy can be just as effective as mastectomy in treating breast cancer," said Matthew M. Poggi, M.D., of the Radiation Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute and lead author of the study. "This is valuable information for women to have when they are considering the many treatment options that exist."