As our understanding of the biology of breast cancer continues to improve, treatment of the disease continues to change.Although the ultimate goal of treatment remains improved survival, increasing emphasis is now put on less morbid treatments and improving quality of life.Prevention remains a major focus, particularly in women at high risk of developing breast cancer because of mutations in susceptibility genes.In this article, we review the current prevention strategies in carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, data on sentinel node biopsy for axillary staging, and trials of new endocrine treatments for advanced breast cancer. MethodsWe selected topics on the basis of their current or likely future impact on practice, with an emphasis on areas in which significant changes in our knowledge base have occurred in the past three to five years.We did English language Medline searches, giving priority to prospective randomised trials or large prospective multiinstitutional studies when available.We also reviewed abstracts from meetings on breast cancer in the past three years.
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Monica Morrow (2002) studied this question.