Women's choices between the options of breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy for breast cancer appear to be unrelated to medical indication. Researchers analyzed trends in breast cancer surgery between 1981 and 1987 for 500 U.S. hospitals. There were 87,449 cases of early stage disease. The percentage of radical mastectomies declined from 8.7% to 2.3%. The number… Continue reading Treating early-stage breast cancer: hospital characteristics associated with breast-conserving surgery