Breast cancer local-regional therapy

Operable breast cancer is often a systemic disease and variations in local-regional therapy have not substantially affected survival. Only by control of distant disease can there bean improvement in the outcome of breast cancer patients. 

Recurrence of breast cancer following local-regional therapy is most commonly at sites distant from the breast. 

The goal of therapy with early and locally advanced breast cancer is to cure the disease. Breast cancer is currently incurable after it has advanced beyond local-regional disease. The goal of treatment of metastatic breast cancer is to improve symptoms, maintain quality of life, and extend survival. Thus it is important to choose therapy with good activity while minimizing toxicities. Treatment of metastatic breast cancer with either cytotoxic or endocrine therapy often results in regression of disease and improvements in quality of life. 

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