Multimodal approach in the therapy of stage III female breast cancers.

One thousand thirty-seven female breast cancers were treated at the Cancer Institute (WIA), Madras, between 1965 and 1978. Five hundred twenty-one of them (ie, just over 50%) were in stage III, with extensive local disease, unsuitable for surgery ab initio. Four hundred twelve of them (group A) received radiation therapy (RT) initially and 109 (group B) a combination of radiation and chemotherapy (CT). In 68% of the former and 77% of the latter the tumours became resectable after this preliminary treatment. Radical mastectomy in group A and Patey's mastectomy in group B were performed. The material in these two groups was similar. The five-year survival NED in group A was 45%, and in group B 64.61%. Adequate surgery following RT and CT seemed essential to improve survival. The impact of added chemotherapy (CT) was mainly felt in the node-positive cases.