ABSTRACT
Removal of the breast tumour by the knife, the cautery, a combination of the two or by means of caustics was carried out. Much of surgery is concerned with the treatment of benign and malignant tumours. Many experienced surgeons, however, appalled at the early recurrences they saw following removal of the breast tumour, wondered whether surgery was indicated at all in many cases, and whether, in fact, it often did more harm than good. Gradually, surgeons were moving to the concept of the radical mastectomy, whose detailed technique was evolved by Willy Meyer of the New York Hospital and William Stewart Halsted. For the first half of the 20th century, the concept of centrifugal spread of breast cancer held sway and with it the cult of radical mastectomy. Indeed, any progress seemed to depend on developing still more radical ablations of the breast and its surrounds.
