Early/Locally Advanced Stage
In Early or Locally Advanced breast cancers, the cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast and or surrounding lymph nodes. Treatment goals is to cure! That is to reduce risk of breast cancer recurrence or spread to other parts of the body.(1)
Neoadjuvant Treatment
Neoadjuvant treatment refers to treatment administered before surgery.(1)
Treatment Goals(2)
Early systemic treatment
Assess tumour response
Reduce the risk of breast cancer relapse or spreading outside the breast
Reduce size of tumour to allow for less extensive surgery and improve cosmetic outcomes
Convert an inoperable tumour to an operable tumour
Increase chances of surviving breast cancer
What you should know
After your neoadjuvant therapy, your doctor will perform medical examinations in order to evaluate your tumour’s response to the treatment, and to examine how much of the tumour is left in the breast and lymph nodes. This can be done through a clinical breast exam, a mammogram, a breast MRI and/or a breast ultrasound.(3)
Based on your neoadjuvant treatment outcomes, your doctor will recommend the appropriate surgery options to remove the remaining tumour. Your doctor will also examine how much of the tumour is left in the breast and lymph nodes after neoadjuvant therapy. The surgical specimen will be examined by a pathologist to see how much tumor is left in the breast and lymph nodes after neoadjuvant therapy.(3)
References:
(1) Susan G Komen Organisation. Treatment by breast cancer diagnosis. 2021. Available at https://www.komen.org/breast-cancer/treatment/by-diagnosis/ [Accessed May 2021]
(2) Cancer.Net. Breast Cancer: Types of Treatment. American Society of Clinical Oncology. 2021. Available at https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/breast-cancer/types-treatment [Accessed May 2021]
(3) Santa-Maria CA, et al. Review of Neoadjuvant Therapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Current Practice, Controversies, and Future Directions. Oncology 2015;29:828-838.