In this retrospective study, the effect of surgical therapy on a series of 70 patients with breast cancer who were surgically treated for metastasis of the bone was evaluated. At presentation, 19 patients had one osseous lesion, 19 patients had multiple bone lesions, and 32 patients had additional visceral involvement. The surgical procedures included 60 palliative procedures, six radical resections, and four biopsies. In 14 surviving patients, the mean observation period was 35.6 +/- 40.1 months. Of the six patients with radically resected solitary bone lesions, five patients had systemic progression of the disease develop. Of the 19 patients with presumably solitary bone lesions, five currently are free of tumor. Of the 19 patients with multiple bone lesions and initially no visceral tumor spread, only two are alive. Of the 32 patients with additional visceral metastases at surgery, four are alive with the disease. For the entire group, the survival rate was 59% after 1 year, 36% after 2 years, 13% after 5 years, and 7% after 10 years. The only two independent factors that were associated with survival were the extent of the disease and the duration of symptoms from bone metastasis. These findings suggest that in orthopaedic surgery in patients with bone metastases secondary to breast cancer, wide resection is not likely to be necessary. Patients with solitary bone lesions have a 39% chance of living 5 years.