Abstract
• Theoretically if the tumour has not yet disseminated metastases to tissues that are biologically vital, it is curable with local therapy only. • Approximately half of women with operable breast BC who do not receive any systemic therapy will die from metastatic disease. • Randomised trials have shown that adjuvant treatment (endocrine therapy, chemotherapy or molecular-targeted agents) significantly improves survival. • Adjuvant systemic therapies, including chemotherapy, should be considered for all patients with BC when benefit outweighs risks.
Future directions. The response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in vivo could provide a useful prediction of prognosis and helps define strategies for an individual patient’s future treatment with alternative chemotherapy regimens or molecular-targeting agents. Furthermore, the discovery of predictive markers for tumour response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy may also help facilitate individualised chemotherapy, particularly in patients, as those with triple-negative BC, with a poor prognosis.
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Websites in Appendix: Advanced BC A-4.1; Adjuvant Systemic Therapy, A-4.2; Clinical Trials, A-4.6; Fatigue, A-4.8.
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Pluchinotta, A.M., Ghiotto, C., Baretta, Z. (2015). The Role of Adjuvant Systemic Therapy. In: Pluchinotta, A. (eds) The Outpatient Breast Clinic. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15907-2_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15907-2_18
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