BREAST CONSERVING SURGERY VS. MODIFIED RADICAL MASTECTOMY: A LONG- TERM SURVIVAL AND RECURRENCE STUDY

 Background: The two main surgical treatments for treating breast cancer are modified radical mastectomy (MRM) and breast-conserving surgery (BCS). BCS combined with adjuvant therapy provides equivalent survival and a higher quality of life, whereas MRM guarantees total tumour elimination. The long-term survival and recurrence rates of BCS and MRM are contrasted in this study. Methodology: With a sample size of 198 patients with breast cancer, this prospective Service Hospital Lahore cohort study was carried out over a three-year period. After being matched for tumour stage and patient characteristics, patients were split into two groups: BCS (n = 99) and MRM (n = 99). Recurrence rates, surgical complications, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. The Cox proportional hazards model, chi-square test, ttests, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were all used in the statistical analysis, with significance defined at p < 0.05. Results: At the end of the three-year follow-up, the OS rate was 91.3% in BCS patients compared to 86.4% in MRM patients (p = 0.041), while DFS was significantly higher in the BCS group (88.7%) than in the MRM group (79.5%, p = 0.029). Local recurrence was 7.1% in BCS and 9.2% in MRM (p = 0.310), whereas distant metastasis was 5.8% in BCS and 12.1% in MRM (p = 0.018). Postoperative complications, particularly lymphedema (21.2%) and wound infections (18.1%), were significantly higher in MRM patients than in BCS patients (p < 0.05). Conclusion: BCS with adjuvant therapy provides similar or superior survival outcomes to MRM, with fewer complications and better quality of life. MRM remains essential for advanced cases, but breast conservation should be prioritized in early-stage disease. Long-term follow-up is needed for optimizing treatment strategies