The standard of care for evaluating the axilla in breast cancer is sentinel lymph node biopsy. For patients who happen to have positive lymph node involvement by sentinel lymph node biopsy, additional treatment of the axilla is necessary. Proceeding with total axillary lymph node dissection (ALND)while effective is associated with significant morbidity and may not be needed in all patients with positive sentinel lymph node biopsy. The AMAROS trial came to provide a needed answer, ” Can axillary radiation therapy to the axilla in a specific subset of patients with positive sentinel lymph node be done in place of ALND?”
Month: July 2017
Advances in the treatment of advanced estrogen receptor positive breast cancer
Luminal estrogen receptor positive HER-2 negative breast cancer is the common type of breast cancer, accounting for 70% of all breast cancer. Endocrine therapy of estrogen receptor positive HER2 negative advanced breast cancer is very effective, however, many patients will have disease recurrence as a result of endocrine therapy emerging resistance. In this post, I will review our recent understanding of resistance mechanisms how this understanding translating into new therapies.
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Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) is relatively rare. PABC is defined as breast cancer occurring during pregnancy, first postpartum year, or anytime during lactation. It is estimated to occur in 1 every 3000 pregnancies. On the other hand, it is the most common cancer during pregnancy, the incidence of PABC is expected to rise in developed countries, while historically PABC was always thought to have poor prognosis this is not universally true, it continues to represent a special challenge for early diagnosis and treatment options.