Breast cancer occupies a leading position in the structure of the incidence of malignant neoplasms among the female population. Over time, surgical and medical treatments for patients with breast cancer have undergone various changes. The main trend in drug treatment is a personalized approach to choosing therapy; this allows the volume of surgical treatment to be decreased in the fu-ture. Complete resorption of the primary tumor is the most debated issue relating to the need for surgical treatment; however, the lack of accurate diagnostic methods cannot make a single conclusion regarding this problem. The literature review includes an analysis of studies conducted on this topic in 1980 to 2021. Despite a large number of instrumental diagnostic techniques, histological verification of the residual tumor bed remains the most accurate method today. For a more accurate bed assessment, it is necessary to use a combination of the methods: vacuum aspiration biopsy and fine needle aspiration biopsy. © 2022, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.