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Breast cancer is a nightmare disease for women. For the less informed cancer patients, their options for cancer treatments are relatively few. But this may be about to change.

Recent study suggests that early breast cancer treatments involving breast conserving surgery and radiation therapy can significantly increase the survival rate among patients according to evidences shown at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium as reported by WebMD.

The data further stated that women who underwent lumpectomy with radiation had 21% more likelihood of survival for 10 years than those who opted for mastectomy without radiation according to Time.

In the study, the 10-year survival rate is at 76.8% for women who chose lumpectomy plus radiation compared to a much lower survival rate of 59.7% for those who preferred mastectomy without the added benefit of radiation therapy as mentioned in the Washington Post.

"Comparison of survival outcomes after breast-conserving therapy versus mastectomy without radiation therapy could...improve the quality of breast cancer care," told Sabine Siesling of the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organization as quoted saying in the MedicalXpress.

Mastectomy refers to the surgical procedure of removing the breast entirely to prevent cancer cells from spreading. Lumpectomy (also termed as partial mastectomy), on the other hand, only involves the removal of tumor and the affected breast tissue around it according to the technical definitions that appeared in a separate WebMD article.

Despite the seemingly favorable data for breast conserving surgery with radiation, experts remind the public to exercise caution as the results are not necessarily conclusive to prove that lumpectomy followed by radiation is definitely more effective than mastectomy alone.