Between 1958 and 1966, 184 patients with T-3 mammary carcinoma were subjected to preoperative radiotherapy and 113 (61.4 %) subsequently underwent mastectomy. Sterilisation of the mammary tumor was achieved in about a quarter of the cases but the efficacy of radiotherapy on the lymphnode metastases was mach lower. Long-term survival was no better in these patients than in T-3 breast cancer cases subjected to mastectomy without radiotherapy before 1958. The frequency of recurrences and of new local manifestations was not significantly different either. It is concluded that preoperative radiotherapy with conventional X-rays does not improve the prognosis of T-3 breast cancer cases.
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