Breast cancer

The treatment of breast cancer depends, among other variables, on the size and location of the tumour, and the extent or stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis. In most cases, the so-called trimodal therapy is usually performed: surgery, chemotherapy or hormone therapy, and radiotherapy. The usual sequence is to perform surgery first, followed by chemotherapy, should it become necessary, and radiotherapy. In some cases chemotherapy is given prior to surgery as an approach to large tumours to facilitate subsequent conservative surgery, or in cases with initial axillary lymph node involvement.

Once the tumour has been removed, its pathological analysis (size, cell subtype, etc.) and biological characteristics (degree of malignancy, sensitivity or insensitivity to hormonal stimuli, etc.) determine the risk of local and/or distant recurrence and the need for post-surgical treatment to minimise this risk. The development of various genomic platforms over recent years has enabled the selection of patients for whom chemotherapy is essential, thereby avoiding its administration to patients for whom it is not necessary.