Patient evaluation of cosmetic outcome after conserving surgery for treatment of primary breast cancer

To investigate patient self-assessment of and satisfaction with cosmetic outcome following breast-conserving treatment.Methods:A total of 254 patients with primary breast cancer who had been treated by wide local excision (WLE) were assessed objectively for cosmesis. Patients then self-rated their own cosmetic outcome and satisfaction via a questionnaire.Results:Seventy-two per cent of the patients stated that there was little or no difference between the treated and untreated breast. Patient satisfaction was high with 90.5% being «moderately» or «very satisfied» with their cosmetic result. There were very good correlations between the objective assessment and the patient self-assessment of the cosmetic result (χ2=77.98P<0.001) and between the patient satisfaction and the patient self-assessment (χ2=122.65P<0.001).Conclusion:This study shows very good cosmetic outcome with high patient satisfaction. These cosmetic results combined with a low local recurrence rate following wide local excision validate the operative method used.