Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the prognosis and cosmetic effect of conservative surgery for breast cancer. Methods: Conservative surgery was performed in 85 patients with breast cancer, from January 1996 to January 2005. Solitary tumors were found in all patients. The tumor diameter was less than 2 cm in 44 cases, 2.0 to 3.0 cm in 37 cases, and 3.1 to 4.0 cm in 4 cases. Postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy were administered except for 6 cases with tumors in situ. All patients were followed for 1 to 10 years, with an average time of 32.4 months. Results: A total of 85 cases were alive at the end of the study, and the 5 and 10-year survival rates were both 100%. Of the 85 cases, postoperative relapse was found in 3. Local recurrence or/and metastasis was seen in 3 cases, including 1 axillary recurrence 3 years after surgery, 1 axillary recurrence in conjunction with lung and liver metastasis 8 years after surgery, and 1 liver metastasis 1 year after surgery. Cosmetic effect was good in 96.5%(82/85) and was fair in 3.5% (3/85). Conclusions: Prognosis for patients treated with conservative surgery for breast cancer is satisfactory, and the cosmetic effects are excellent.