The breast was conserved in approximately half of the cases in both groups. Within the IGCB group, patients with microcalcifications underwent breast-conserving surgery less often than patients with mass lesions (27% and 59%). In the NLB group, the type of lesion (mass or microcalcification) made little difference in relation to breast conservation (57% and 50% breast conservation, respectively). The volume of excision was greater for patients in the IGCB group than for the NLB group: 106 cubic cm and 52 cubic cm, (p<0.0001). The 86 patients who underwent IGCB subsequently had 98 surgical procedures (1.1 operations per patient), compared with the 85 patients in the NLB group who underwent 157 surgical procedures (1.9 operations per patient).