Breast Cancer Treatment & Management

Surgery is considered primary treatment for early-stage breast cancer; many patients are cured with surgery alone. The goals of breast cancer surgery include complete resection of the primary tumor with negative margins to reduce the risk of local recurrences and pathologic staging of the tumor and axillary lymph nodes (ALNs) to provide necessary prognostic information.
Adjuvant treatment of breast cancer is designed to treat micrometastatic disease (ie, breast cancer cells that have escaped the breast and regional lymph nodes but which have not yet had an established identifiable metastasis). Adjuvant treatment for breast cancer involves radiation therapy and systemic therapy (including a variety of chemotherapeutic, hormonal and biologic agents).