The radical mastectomy (RM), introduced by Halsted in the last decade of the nineteenth century, was a milestone in cancer treatment. RM was the first surgical procedure for breast cancer that reduced the of local recurrences to less than 10%. For a long time RM was believed to prolong survival of patients with breast cancer. RM was mutilating. Studies published in the last quarter of the twentieth century have shown that less extensive surgery was as good at local and systemic control of breast cancer.
These studies were responsible for RM gaving way to modified radical mastectomy (MRM) and finally to breast conserving surgery (BCS). Breast cancer surgery has two components, treatment of the breast and treatment of the axilla. The treatment of axilla has evolved from a complete axillary dissection to a limited or even no axillary dissection in selected patients. This has been made…
