Involving patients in the decision-making process regarding breast cancer treatment: implications for surgery utilization.

摘要

For most of the 20th century, from approximately 1900 to the mid-1970s, over 90% of women with breast cancer were treated with radical mastectomy [1]. Radical mastectomy is an invasive surgery that involves removing the affected breast, as well as the surrounding chest muscle and associated lymph nodes [101]. Since the early 1980s, fueled largely by the advocacy efforts of patients and their families, less invasive surgical options have been developed. Currently, most women with early-stage breast cancer have the option of surgical treatment with modified radical mastectomy (removal of the entire breast) or lumpectomy (removal of the cancer and the immediate surrounding tissue without removing the affected breast) [2-3].