Efficacy of Lumpectomies

A major study has found that women who underwent a lumpectomy for breast cancer have virtually the same chances to be cancer-free eight years later as those whose breasts were removed, doctors said last week.

“It’s reassuring for those who have had (lumpectomies to remove a tumor) and are wondering whether they should have undergone a mastectomy,” said Dr. Arthur Holleb, a breast cancer expert with the American Cancer Society. “It’s encouraging for women now who have more reassurance about their options.”

The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine is a follow-up to a 1985 study that established lumpectomies--in conjunction with radiation and, in some cases, chemotherapy--as a safe alternative to mastectomies, the entire removal of a breast, for most women with breast cancer.

In the new report, researchers also found women who underwent lumpectomies were as likely to be alive and free of cancer as those who underwent mastectomies after another three years of follow-up.

“The message is, women truly have a choice,” said Dr. David Wazer of the New England Medical Center in Boston. “They can preserve their breasts and not suffer in terms of disease-free or overall survival.”