The results of randomized trials evaluating the use of early or adjuvant systemic treatment for patients with resectable breast cancer provide an eloquent rebuttal to those who would argue that we have made no progress in the treatment of cancer. Many of the tumors that we have been most successful in curing with chemotherapy and other newer forms of treatment are relatively uncommon. In contrast, breast cancer continues to be the single most common malignancy among women in the western world, is increasingly a cause of death throughout Asia and Third-World countries, and remains one of the...

The results of randomized trials evaluating the use of early or adjuvant systemic treatment for patients with resectable breast cancer provide an eloquent rebuttal to those who would argue that we have made no progress in the treatment of cancer. Many of the tumors that we have been most successful in curing with chemotherapy and other newer forms of treatment are relatively uncommon. In contrast, breast cancer continues to be the single most common malignancy among women in the western world, is increasingly a cause of death throughout Asia and Third-World countries, and remains one of the...

Breast Cancer provides an in-depth understanding of the biology of breast cancer, the natural history of the disease, the use of molecular markers, the interpretation of clinical trial data, and the integration of multiple therapeutic modalities. The single most important fact about breast cancer is the great variation in its natural history and its responsiveness to therapy from one patient to another. The clinician must integrate an assessment of the patient's likely course based on clinical and pathological staging and laboratory studies with objective evidence on the benefits of...