Cosmetic Aspects of Breast-Conserving Therapy for Carcinoma of the Breast

Apart from the primarily oncological aspects, breast-conserving therapy, with the psychological advantages this entails for the patient, is only worthwhile when the result can be expected to be good from the cosmetic and functional aspects. As well as the site of the tumor, the ratio of its size — or rather the extent of the conservative surgical operation — to the volume of the breast is a decisive factor determining the cosmetic outcome. The cosmetic results tend to be rather unsatisfactory when the carcinoma is centrally situated or when the breast is very small [7]. The alternative in such cases is amputation with subsequent reconstruction.