Multimodal approach in the therapy of stage III female breast cancers

One thousand thirty‐seven female breast cancers were treated at the Cancer Institute (WIA), Madras, between 1965 and 1978. Five hundred twenty‐one of them (ie, just over 50%) were in stage III, with extensive local disease, unsuitable for surgery ab initio. Four hundred twelve of them (group A) received radiation therapy (RT) initially and 109 (group B) a combination of radiation and chemotherapy (CT). In 68% of the former and 77% of the latter the tumours became resectable after this preliminary treatment. Radical mastectomy in group A and Patey's mastectomy in group B were performed. The material in these two groups was similar. The five‐year survival NED in group A was 45%, and in group B 64.61%. Adequate surgery following RT and CT seemed essential to improve survival. The impact of added chemotherapy (CT) was mainly felt in the node‐positive cases.