[en] Before 1981, 104 mastectomies with or without post operative irradiation for carcinoma of the breast were performed using primary treatments: Group I, total mastectomy with axillary dissection (Br + Ax) alone; Group II, (Br + Ax) with irradiation; Group III, radical mastectomy alone; and Group IV, radical mastectomy with irradiation. A retrospective study was conducted, and the findings are summarized as follows. 1) In patients with favorable disease (positive axillary nodes ≤ 3 in number), the combination of surgery and irradiation therapy was able to secure 100 % (0/44) of the treated areas. 2) For patients with regionally advanced breast cancer (positive axillary nodes > 4), however, the combination of surgery and irradiation controlled no more than 70 % (9/13). 3) Five-year disease-free survival rates in stage I patients were 89 % (16/18), 89 % (8/9), 92 % (12/13) and 84 % (16/19) in Group, I, II, III, and IV, respectively. (author)