[Changing patterns in surgery of breast cancer].

The ideal surgical procedure for the treatment of breast cancer has been a matter of controversy. Halsted radical mastectomy has been the treatment of choice, at the cancer institute hospital, in the management of breast cancer. Over the past five years, there has been a definite trend toward modified radical mastectomy preserving the pectoral muscles in the treatment of patients with early breast cancer. From 1975 to 1890 we treated 755 breasts with radical mastectomy, 723 with Patey's operation, 373 with Auchincloss operation and 58 with extended mastectomy. Extended mastectomy has been gradually abandoned.