The future of breast surgery: a new subspecialty of oncoplastic breast surgeons?

Breast cancer is the commonest cancer in females and although the mortality is decreasing 1. Baildam A D. Oncoplastic surgery of the breast. Br J Surg 2002; 89: 532–533. Google Scholar the screening program detects presymptomatic breast pathology in an increasing number of women. 2. Parkin D M, Muir C S, Whelan S L, Gao Y T, Ferlay J, Powell J eds. Cancer incidence in five continents. IARC Sci Publ 1992; 120(6): 178–861. Google Scholar The result of increased detection is a higher demand for intervention. Media interest and heightened awareness has also encouraged higher expectations. If we are to meet these expectations funding must be made available to optimise service organisation, availability of reconstruction and training.