BackgroundThis study was conducted to describe present and changing trends in surgical modalities and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in female breast cancer patients in China from 2006 to 2015.MethodsData of 44 299 female breast cancer patients from 15 tertiary hospitals in Beijing were extracted from hospitalization summary reports. Surgeries were categorized into five modalities: breast‐conserving surgery (BCS), simple mastectomy (SM), modified radical mastectomy (MRM), radical mastectomy (RM), and extensive radical mastectomy (ERM).ResultsIn total, 38 471 (86.84%) breast cancer patients underwent surgery: 22.64% BCS, 8.22% SM, 63.97% MRM, 4.24% RM, and 0.93% ERM. Older patients (> 60) underwent surgery more frequently than younger patients (< 60). The proportion of patients who underwent BCS was highest in the age ≥ 80 (39.24%) and < 40 (28.69%) subgroups and in patients with papillary carcinoma (35.48%), and lowest in the age 60‐ subgroup (18.17%) and in patients with Paget's disease (19.05%). SM was most frequently performed in patients with Paget's disease (29.00%), and MRM for ductal (64.99%), and lobular (63.78%) carcinomas. During the study period, the proportion of patients who underwent MRM dropped by 29.04%, SM and BCS increased from 15.78% and 30.83%, respectively, and NACT increased in all subgroups, particularly in patients with lymph node involvement (26.72%).ConclusionsSurgical modalities varied significantly by age and histologic group. The use of BCS and SM increased dramatically, while MRM declined significantly. The proportion of patients treated with NACT has increased significantly, especially in patients with lymph node involvement.