[Bilateral carcinoma of the breast: treatment and prevention, Review of the literature].

: Authors analyze 256 patients admitted in III Clinica Chirurgica of University of Rome "La Sapienza" for breast cancer, from 1982 to 1992; 16 of them had later developed another neoplasm in the opposite breast. After a retrospective study of the clinical history of all patients they came to the conclusion that bilateral neoplasm frequency is similar to that reported in world literature (1-18%) (23, 9, 2). Moreover, are analyzed the primary risk factors for a bilateral carcinoma, and they consider the utility of the prophylactic surgical treatment of the opposite breast.