Breast cancer

Abstract

The treatment of breast cancer has evolved over the past 60 years. Earlier efforts, focused on achieving optimal control of local disease, ranged from radical mastectomies to lesser surgeries combined with irradiation. Surgery has been and remains an integral part of the overall therapy for this disease. With developments in therapeutic radiation technology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the concept of breast-preserving surgery combined with irradiation became a reality in selected patients. In patients with locally advanced breast cancer, before the availability of effective systemic therapies, preoperative irradiation followed by surgery was a standard approach at this institution, and in a number of patients treated with this approach, adequate local control and long-term benefits were achieved [1] (Figs. 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3).