Breast Cancer

This article provides a comprehensive summary of the knowledge gained from recent neoadjuvant trials conducted with agents targeting HER2, and will put them into perspective with current treatment recommendations from American and European guidelines.
• Neoadjuvant Therapy for HER2-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer
• Improving Therapy for HER2-Positive Cancers Through Neoadjuvant Studies

With the potential for therapeutic durability and a small chance of cure, surgical resection may offer improved survival compared to other therapeutic modalities. This review summarizes the existing literature that addresses the topic of metastasectomy in patients with melanoma and breast cancer.
• Hepatic Metastasectomy for Breast Cancer and Melanoma
• The Role of Hepatic Metastasectomy in Melanoma and Breast Cancer

Paralleling changes in the management of invasive breast cancer, trends in the management of LCIS have moved toward more conservative management. However, we have made little progress in understanding the biology of LCIS and therefore remain unable to truly optimize recommendations for individual patients.
• Lobular Neoplasia: How to Manage With Partial Understanding
• The Challenges of Treating Lobular Carcinoma In Situ

The aim of this article is to review the preclinical data and rationale for PARP inhibitor use in the aforementioned settings, as well as the current status of the clinical development of these agents in the treatment of breast cancer, along with future directions for research in this field.
• PARP Inhibitors and Their Evolving Role in Breast Cancer
• PARP Inhibitors: the Story is Still Unfolding

This review describes the evidence linking obesity to breast cancer recurrence, discusses the potential biological mechanisms through which weight could impact breast cancer prognosis, and reviews the weight-loss intervention studies that have been performed in breast cancer populations to date.
• The Obesity and Breast Cancer Connection: Advancing the Agenda
• Breast Cancer Patients Who Are Obese at Diagnosis

Until better data are available, the desirable margin width will vary depending on individual circumstances, including age, histology, and patient preference.
• Local Recurrence Risk Factors in Women Treated With BCT
• Margin Status Following Partial Mastectomy: One Size Does Not Fit All!

Despite the 20-year-old dogma that all patients treated with breast conservation should receive postoperative radiation, a subset of patients who can be successfully treated by excision alone has been identified.
• Management of DCIS—A Work in Progress
• Tailored Strategies for DCIS Management

Reviews neoadjuvant chemotherapy, margins in surgery, evaluation of the axilla, and radiation therapy in the locoregional treatment of breast cancer.
• Locoregional Treatment of Breast Cancer: Where to Next?
• Ongoing Efforts to Optimize Locoregional Treatments for Breast Cancer

A 40-year-old premenopausal woman with a new diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma occurring in a background of lobular carcinoma in situ presents to a multidisciplinary second opinion clinic. Herein, we describe the appropriate management of both noninvasive and invasive lobular carcinoma and provide a literature-based review of this controversial topic.
• Pleomorphic LCIS: A Divergent Entity With Emerging Significance
• The Impact of Lobular Histology on Breast Cancer Treatment

Over the past decade, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare and aggressive subtype of locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), has received much attention at the level of public awareness as well as at the level of research.
• Have We Made Progress in Inflammatory Breast Cancer? Not So Fast
• Inflammatory Breast Cancer: the Road to Progress

A 22-year-old female collegiate soccer player complains of a painful palpable area in her right breast accompanied by a straw-colored nipple discharge. Because she is extremely anxious and has had previous excisional biopsies, you decide to perform a lumpectomy.

A 38-year-old female (para 3, gravida 3), complains of persistent bilateral mammary gland pain associated with a “lumpy” feeling when she does a self-examination. She carries a family history of breast cancer in both her mother and older sister.

A 71-year-old woman was receiving a multi-agent chemotherapeutic regimen following a lumpectomy for breast cancer. After the second round of treatment, she presented for medical care due to persistent, intensely painful ulceration of the contralateral breast.