A significant effect of hospital case volume on perioperative mortality has been documented for a variety of malignancies that require technically challenging operative procedures and complex perioperative management. The effect of case volume on outcome is less clear for the more common cancers, such as breast and colon cancers, that are less technically challenging and require little in the way of specialized care in the postoperative period. For these cancers perioperative mortality is minimal and one must look at other end points such as long-term survival and functional results. The literature demonstrating improved outcomes in terms of mammographical sensitivity, breast-conservation rates, specimen to tumour volume ratios in breast-conserving surgery, sentinel node biopsy success rates, and 5-year survival is reviewed.
