Primary sarcoma constitutes less than one per cent of breast malignancies. A retrospective review of this disease at our institution was undertaken to assess the effect of different treatment modalities on outcome. Over a 24-year period 28 patients were identified. Follow-up ranged from one to 228 months. Partial mastectomy was done in seven patients, whereas ten underwent total mastectomy and nine had modified radical mastectomy. Two refused surgery. All margins of resection were negative. In total ten axillary lymph node dissections were done with no positive nodes identified. Pathologic analysis of tumors revealed a variety of sarcomas including high-grade malignant cystosarcoma phyllodes in 13. Recurrence of disease occurred in two women, both with malignant cystosarcoma phyllodes. One was a local recurrence in a patient who had undergone partial mastectomy. This was successfully treated with a total mastectomy. The second recurrence involved a distant metastasis in a patient treated with modified radical mastectomy that eventually led to her death. For the entire group the disease-free survival was 75 per cent at 10 years whereas overall survival was 87.5 per cent. In conclusion an adequate margin of resection is the single most important determinant of long-term survival. Axillary lymph node dissection is not necessary for the treatment of these tumors.