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Metastatic Breast Cancer

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Practical Medical Oncology Textbook

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Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) represents the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Metastatic BC (MBC) is currently considered an incurable disease; therefore, the main treatment objectives are improving quality of life and prolonging patient survival. Currently, three major therapeutic subtypes are considered for systemic treatment choice in MBC patients: hormone receptor positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2−), HER2-positive, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). HR+/HER2− BC accounts for about 65% of all breast tumors. Endocrine therapy (ET) represents the mainstay of treatment for this subtype, even in presence of visceral disease, while chemotherapy is generally the required treatment in the presence of visceral crisis. Recently, the treatment of this BC subtype has been radically changed by the introduction of selective CDK4/CDK6 inhibitors, administered in combination with ET. HER2-positive tumors accounts for about 15–20% of all BCs. The association of pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and a taxane is currently considered the standard first-line treatment, while trastuzumab emtansine (TDM1) and the combination of lapatinib and capecitabine are indicated for the following lines. TNBC accounts for about 15% of all BCs. Chemotherapy, with or without targeted agents, represents the treatment choice in this subtype.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy

    Giuseppe Buono, Francesco Schettini, Grazia Arpino, Mario Giuliano & Sabino De Placido

  2. Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Mario Giuliano

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  1. Giuseppe Buono
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  2. Francesco Schettini
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  3. Grazia Arpino
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  4. Mario Giuliano
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  5. Sabino De Placido
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Antonio Russo

  2. Oncology Department, University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium

    Marc Peeters

  3. Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Lorena Incorvaia

  4. Center for Thoracic Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai System & Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, USA

    Christian Rolfo

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Buono, G., Schettini, F., Arpino, G., Giuliano, M., De Placido, S. (2021). Metastatic Breast Cancer. In: Russo, A., Peeters, M., Incorvaia, L., Rolfo, C. (eds) Practical Medical Oncology Textbook. UNIPA Springer Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56051-5_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56051-5_31

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-56051-5

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