The results of operations for the cure of cancer of the breast performed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from June, 1889 to January, 1894

In this paper, Halsted describes 50 cases operated upon by his method of radical mastectomy, which includes in some cases dissection of the supraclavicular fossa. He claims only 6% local recurrence, which he compares favorably with other selected series that describe up to 80% local recurrence after differing extents of the operation in other hands. In addition, he describes 8 cases as suffering from ‘regionary recurrence’. He claimed that the surgeon could not be responsible for this class of recurrence, which was outside of the scope of the operation and originated from invisible foci of the disease within the skin flaps.