Conservative management of intraductal breast carcinoma with tumorectomy and radiation therapy

Between 1967 and 1983, 54 patients with strictly noninvasive intraductal breast carcinoma were treated with tumorectomy and radiation therapy. Median follow-up was 55 months. Three patients had a recurrence in the treated breast; two were noninvasive, and one was invasive. One patient died of disease. Actuarial 5-year disease-free survival rate was 95.2%. No axillary node recurrences occurred in patients treated with irradiation to the breast and regional nodes (34 patients), or in patients treated with breast irradiation alone (20 patients). These preliminary results suggest that combined tumorectomy and radiation therapy could be a valuable conservative alternative to mastectomy in the treatment of noninvasive intraductal breast carcinoma.