Abstract
• Early breast cancer is potentially curable and, therefore, prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial. • Surgery is the definitive treatment, but a combination of radiotherapy and adjuvant systemic therapy is often used to reduce the risk of local and systemic recurrence and improve the cure rate. • Almost all women undergoing partial mastectomy should have postoperative radiotherapy. • Adjuvant systemic therapy consists of hormonal therapy (and chemotherapy if high risk tumours) for women with hormone responsive tumours and chemotherapy alone for women with hormone unresponsive tumours. • Decisions regarding the best combinations of local and systemic therapies for a patient requires close collaboration between breast surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist, with input from the patient regarding her preferences in light of the risks and benefits of treatment. • Supportive care reduces the impact of treatment side effects and improves the quality of life of women undergoing treatment for early breast cancer.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 18-25 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Medicine Today |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2004 |
| Externally published | Yes |