Key factors of breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women. Surgery is still the main treatment for breast cancer. Breast-conserving surgery can preserve the appearance of the breast after removing larger breast tumors.

There are many methods of breast-conserving surgery, but all of them are aimed at and premised on completely removing the tumor and ensuring a perfect breast appearance after surgery. Generally speaking, whether a patient can undergo breast-conserving surgery depends on the following factors:

Tumor size: Tumors with a diameter of more than 4 cm are not suitable for breast-conserving surgery. If the breast is larger, the standard can be relaxed appropriately.

Surgical margin: The application of breast-conserving surgery is based on the premise of achieving pathologically negative margins. The surgery must ensure that there is no tumor residue at the margin, generally requiring at least 2 to 3 mm of tissue without tumor. Patients with positive margins generally require further surgical treatment, or resection to achieve negative margins, or undergo total mastectomy.

Number of tumors: Breast-conserving surgery can be performed for a single tumor. However, if the tumors are multiple, too many, and not in the same quadrant, breast-conserving surgery is not suitable.

Patient's wishes: Before undergoing breast-conserving surgery, the patient must fully understand and be willing to undergo the surgery.

Conditions of the medical institution: The conditions of the medical institution, such as the doctor's medical level, surgical experience, hospital equipment, and whether the hospital can provide postoperative radiotherapy, are also important factors in performing breast-conserving surgery.