Adjuvant chemotherapy is effective in reducing the risk of recurrence and death from breast cancer. Tumor stage and biologic characteristics are important when making decisions about who should receive chemotherapy…
One of the most impressive changes in the therapeutic landscape of breast cancer in the past decade has been the advent of targeted therapies for specific subtypes. This article discusses…
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is being used with increasing frequency in the multidisciplinary care of women with breast cancer. NAC can increase the chances for successful breast conservation and may decrease…
Adjuvant endocrine treatment is an essential component in therapy for hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. Among postmenopausal patients, options include tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, or a sequence of these agents. Tamoxifen and…
Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy improves surgical outcomes for postmenopausal women with bulky hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. Recent studies indicate that this approach may also be used in the management of smaller…
Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease associated with variable clinical outcomes and response to therapy. Classic clinicopathologic factors associated with outcome include anatomic features associated with prognosis (eg, tumor size,…
The surgical treatment of breast cancer has evolved from radical mastectomy with routine removal of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) to breast conservative therapy with preservation of the breast and NAC….
Oncoplastic surgery combines the principles of surgical oncology with those of plastic and reconstructive surgery. The intent is to use established techniques from each field in order to provide adequate…
Sentinel lymph node (SLN) surgery has largely replaced axillary dissection for nodal staging in clinically node negative breast cancer patients. However, in patients with previous breast and/or axillary surgery, pregnant…
This article summarizes the relative pros and cons surrounding the timing of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Several institutions initiated prospective trials of SLN biopsy…
