Abstract
Significant progress has been made in the surgical management of breast cancer. Most women diagnosed with early stage invasive breast cancer can now be managed with breast-conserving therapy to include a segmental mastectomy followed by radiation. Axillary lymph nodes are routinely assessed by sentinel lymph node biopsy. Axillary lymph node dissection is reserved for patients with documented nodal metastasis; however, here too progress has been made because a population of low-risk patients has been identified in whom a complete dissection is not required even in the setting of a positive sentinel lymph node. This article details the landmark clinical trials that have guided the surgical management of breast cancer.
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