Surgery for Early Breast Cancer

To the Editor: Dr. Bailar (Nov. 30 issue) 1 reassures physicians and patients that the lumpectomy study findings of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) are credible. However, he asserts that until a much broader analysis of the entire cohort from St. Luc Hospital alone is reported, all St. Luc data should be excluded from future interpretations of Protocol B-06. In fact, we did conduct extensive analyses to verify the integrity of the St. Luc data. 2 Presenting findings from a single institution compromises the integrity and conduct of multicenter trials. It also increases the chances of finding false . . .