RT Journal
A1 McWHIRTER R
T1 TReatment of cancer of breast by simple mastectomy and roentgenotherapy
JF Archives of Surgery
JO Archives of Surgery
YR 1949
FD October 1
VO 59
IS 4
SP 830
OP 842
DO 10.1001/archsurg.1949.01240040839004
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1949.01240040839004
AB CANCER of the breast is one of the commonest forms of malignant disease in women. If it is fully treated when still localized, many lives may be saved. The maximum number of lives will be saved by the use of the most effective methods of treatment. So that these may be recognized it is essential that a reliable means of assessment be employed.The very fact that there is still great doubt regarding which method is best suggests that the usual methods of assessment are not reliable. To continue to publish unreliable assessments will only further confuse the issue; much time and energy will be wasted, and many lives may be lost.Some of the present confusion undoubtedly arises from the failure to appreciate that the value of a method of treatment depends not on the results obtained in the treated patients but on the number of lives a method