ABSTRACT
Longer-term follow-up of breast-conservation therapy trials have established oncological equivalence with mastectomy in terms of overall survival. Oncoplastic techniques offer the potential for resection of tumors exceeding 4–5 cm with clear surgical margins in women with larger breasts, although induction chemotherapy can often reduce initial tumor size. However, consideration of functional information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the form of pharmacokinetic parameters from dynamic contrast enhancement, apparent diffusion weighted MRI to assess the stroma adjacent to the tumor may become relevant in treatment planning. The ability to accurately measure tumor size can be more problematic for both mammography and ultrasound with tumor margins being particularly difficult to define when a tumor is located in a zone of fibrocystic change.
