Cancer investigation
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Cancer investigation · Dec 2008
Primary systemic therapy in breast cancer: past lessons and new approaches.
Primary systemic therapy (PST) is a common treatment strategy used to optimize surgical outcomes for women with locally advanced breast cancer. Several cooperative group trials have shown equivalent survival outcomes between neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy and have identified pathologic complete response (pCR) as a biologic marker for survival. ⋯ These emerging approaches are informed by our knowledge of subtypes of breast cancer, as well as genomic technologies, such as chemosensitivity signatures. Following definitive surgery, the management of residual disease is controversial.