Proceedings of the Consensus Conference on Breast

and the Consensus Conference Committee I n a single generation the treatment of most women with early-stagebreast cancer has changed dramatically. Clinical trials with more than 20 years of follow-up have documented that, for appropriately selected patients, breast conserving surgery followed by whole breast irradiation has an outcome equivalent to mastectomy. The appropri-ate selection of patients remains controversial. Questions remain regarding the role of new diagnostic imaging modalities, radiation therapy techniques, achieving optimal cosmesis, the choice and th