Oncoplastic breast surgery: Current status and best candidates for treatment

The term oncoplastic surgery was coined to describe an evolving area of breast surgery that applies the principles of surgical oncology and plastic and reconstructive surgery to the management of women with breast cancer. Oncoplastic surgery does not describe a particular surgical procedure; it represents a comprehensive approach to surgical planning intended to achieve 1) widened surgical margins; 2) reduced local recurrence risk; 3) optimized cosmetic outcome; and 4) breast volume reduction when patients with macromastia develop breast cancer. This specialized field of cancer surgery, once confined to surgeons practicing in Europe, has gained popularity and attention in the United States, with surgeons anxious to achieve these goals for patients. Multiple factors have combined to allow surgeons to use innovative surgical solutions to simultaneously improve oncologic outcome and surgical cosmesis. This article explores current aspects of oncoplastic surgery, summarizes how various methods are applied in clinical practice, and discusses future directions in the emerging field of oncoplastic breast cancer surgery.