Published 19 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b557
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b557

Editorials

Minimally invasive surgery for breast cancer

May be trading better cosmetic outcomes for worse rates of cure

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Both oncological principles and aesthetic outcomes need to be considered when planning surgery for breast cancer. As breast conserving therapy has evolved over the past 30 years from a radical idea to an accepted standard, and as options for breast reconstruction have increased, the surgical literature has become increasingly devoted to new techniques to improve cosmetic outcomes. "Minimally invasive breast surgery" and "oncoplastic breast surgery" are the new buzzwords among breast surgeons. But what do they mean? And more importantly, how should such procedures be evaluated?

Oncoplastic surgery has been described as "the seamless joining of the extirpative and reconstructive aspects of breast surgery performed by a single surgeon,"¹ and those in the field agree that the purpose of oncoplastic surgery is to improve cosmetic outcomes.² Minimally invasive breast surgery includes techniques of breast conserving surgery, mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy, and axillary dissection. Although initially breast conserving surgery and sentinel . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA

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Oncoplastic surgery is promising

Richard M Rainsbury and Fiona MacNeill
BMJ 2009 338: b1743. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Rainsbury, R. M, MacNeill, F. (2009). Oncoplastic surgery is promising. BMJ 338: b1743-b1743 [Full text]  

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