Current Comprehensive Management of Breast Cancer: Review of Literature

Breast cancer remains the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide and its incidence is rising steadily in India, where patients frequently present at a younger age and in more advanced stages compared with Western populations. Comprehensive management requires accurate diagnosis, staging, and multidisciplinary treatment planning. A narrative review of established literature and consensus recommendations was undertaken, covering epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic strategies including triple assessment, staging systems, surgical options, systemic therapies, radiotherapy advances, and follow-up protocols across early, locally advanced, and metastatic breast cancer. Early breast cancer is optimally managed with surgery, either modified radical mastectomy or breast conservation surgery with radiotherapy, supported by appropriate systemic therapy. Locally advanced breast cancer benefits from neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant treatment. Metastatic disease is primarily treated with systemic therapy, with surgery reserved only for selected palliative indications. Modern breast cancer management requires individualized multimodality treatment guided by stage, tumor biology, and patient factors. Early diagnosis and coordinated multidisciplinary care remain central to improving survival and quality of life, particularly in the Indian clinical context.