Of the 1,193 women, 916 (77%) had a WLE or excision biopsy. These were split into two groups: group 1 (520 women (57%)) had a single operation; and group 2 (396 women (43%)) went on to have further operations, including repeat WLE to clear margins 238 (60%), mastectomy 133 (34%) and axillary dissection 25 (6%). Twenty-eight women went on to have a third operation. There were significant associations with increasing size of DCIS (P < 0.001), increasing tumour grade (P = 0.005), radiologists suspicion of 3/4 (P = 0.002) and mammographic sign (spiculated mass plus micro-calcifications and asymmetric density (ASD), P = 0.003) for repeat operations. There was no statistical difference in patient's age, invasive cancer size, histology or nodal status.