Objective To investigate the trend of breast cancer treatment and prognosis in 30 years. Methods Total 1 092 patients with breast cancer treated in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 1975 and 2006 were reviewed in six time phases for therapy, metastasis, and survival rate. Six time phases were 1975-1980 years, 1985-1986 years, 1990-1991 years, 1995-1996 years, 2000-2001 years and 2005-2006 years. Results Radical operation was the major treatment (68.9%， 91/132) of breast cancer in 1975-1980 and then became less popular until it was totally abandoned after 2001. The number of modified radical operation begun to rise from 1980 and reached its peak in 1995-1996 (94.9%， 146/154). The number of lumpectomy had been increasing since 2000, and that of chemotherapy had been rising since 1985-1986. But there was no apparent change of the percentage of radiotherapy treatment. In 1975-1980, only 0.8% （1/126） patients received endocrine therapy, but in 1990-1991, the ratio was 66.0% （33/50）. The metastasis and recurrence ratio was declining gradually in the 6 time phases (P＜0.05). The 5-year and 10-year disease free survival rates in the groups of 1990-1991, 1995-1996, 2000-2001, and 2005-2006 were apparently higher than those in two earlier groups of 1975-1980 and 1985-1986 (P＜0.05). Conclusion The conclusions of laboratory experiments and clinical trials on breast cancer are critical for improving prognosis.