Breast Cancer Disease Summary

Overview

Breast cancer is the presence of a malignant breast nodule, mass, or abscess as stated in the Introduction section.

Breast cancer has the highest incidence among all cancers globally. Incidence and prevalence of the disease regionally and worldwide can be found in the Epidemiology section.

Breast cancer development is due to the malignant proliferation of epithelial cells lining the ducts or lobules of the breast. This process is further discussed in the Pathophysiology section.

The Risk Factors section discusses the different factors that can contribute to the development of breast cancer, some of which are reproductive factors, advanced age, family history and other conditions that increase the risk of having breast cancer. Risk factors that can contribute to disease recurrence are also included in this section.

Classification of breast cancer based on histologic diagnosis is discussed in this section. 

Breast Cancer_Disease Summary

History and Physical Examination

The Clinical Presentation section enumerates the presenting signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

In the History section, pertinent information to be elicited from the patient are mentioned.

As stated in the Physical Examination section, a complete breast examination is an essential part in assessing patients suspected to have breast cancer.

Diagnosis

Triple assessment is an established method to diagnose breast cancer. It consists of clinical evaluation, imaging (ie mammography and/or ultrasound), and pathology (histology and/or cytology). These are enumerated and discussed in the Laboratory Tests and Ancillaries and Imaging sections.

The Differential Diagnosis section enumerates the heterogenous group of conditions that can mimic breast cancer, and these should be ruled out.

Management

The Evaluation section resents the tumors, nodes, and metastases (TNM) staging system for breast cancer developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer and Union Internationale Contre le Cancer.

In the Principles of Therapy section, the advantages and indications of preoperative systemic chemotherapy are discussed as well as the recommended sequence of adjuvant therapies.

The Pharmacological Therapy section includes the discussion of various drug options used in management of patients with breast cancer. These include drugs for risk reduction of carcinoma in situ, systemic therapy for invasive breast cancer and recurrent unresectable or metastatic breast cancer, and adjuvant endocrine therapy.

Surgical techniques that can be performed according to the type of breast cancer are enumerated and elaborated in the Surgery section.

Options for the radiotherapeutic approach for each stage of breast cancer are enumerated and discussed in the Radiation Therapy section.

Characteristics of disease progression as well as its assessment are included in the Monitoring section.