Breast Conservative Surgery for Breast Cancer: Indian Surgeon’s Preferences and Factors Influencing Them

• Published in: Indian journal of surgical oncology 2023-03, Vol.14 (1), p.11-17
• Main Authors: Dutta, Rohini, Mahajan, Anshul, Patil, Priti, Bhandoria, Geetu, Sarang, Bhakti, Virk, Sargun, Khajanchi, Monty, Jain, Samarvir, Bains, Lovenish, Bhandarkar, Prashant, Chatterjee, Shamita, Roy, Nobhojit, Gadgil, Anita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Cancer surgery; Mastectomy; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Oncology; Original; Original Article; Radiation therapy; Surgery; Surgical Oncology
• ISSN: 0975-7651; 0976-6952
• DOI: 10.1007/s13193-022-01601-y

Background It is well established that disease-free survival and overall survival after breast conservation surgery (BCS) followed by radiotherapy are equivalent to that after mastectomy. However, in Asian countries, the rate of BCS continues to remain low. The cause may be multifactorial including the patient’s choice, availability and accessibility of infrastructure, and surgeon’s choice. We aimed to elucidate the Indian surgeons’ perspective while choosing between BCS and mastectomy, in women oncologically eligible for BCS. Methods We conducted a survey-based cross-sectional study in January–February 2021. Indian surgeons with general surgical or specialised oncosurgical training, who consented to participate were included in the study. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to assess the effect of study variables on offering mastectomy or BCS. Results A total of 347 responses were included. The mean age of the participants was 43 ± 11 years. Sixty-three of the surgeons were in the 25–44 years age group with the majority (80%) being males. 66.4% of surgeons ‘almost always’ offered BCS to oncologically eligible patients. Surgeons who had undergone specialised training in oncosurgery or breast conservation surgery were 35 times more likely to offer BCS ( p