Response to Letter: Evolving Trends in Breast Surgery: Oncoplastic to Onco-Aesthetic Surgery

We thank the editors for giving us an opportunity to respond to this letter. We also thank the authors of the letter for their interest in our article and their kind comments. The authors seem to imply that oncoplastic breast surgery (OBS) is restricted to breast-conserving surgery for large tumours. However, OBS also refers to the techniques of skin-sparing mastectomy and immediate reconstruction and breast-conserving surgery for small tumours. We agree that overall and disease-free survival are the main aims of cancer treatment, and that these aims can be attained effectively by standard breast-conserving surgery procedures. We welcome the words of caution given in the letter that oncological safety must take precedence over cosmetic outcome. OBS does not require wider tumour-free margins than standard breast conservation treatment, and we consider a tumour-free margin of 2 mm to be adequate. The tumour’s cavity can be marked with metallic clips in order to guide the delivery of radiotherapy, if required. Response to Letter: Evolving Trends in Breast Surgery: Oncoplastic to OncoAesthetic Surgery