Review
Recent advances in systemic therapy. Advances in neoadjuvant (primary) systemic therapy with cytotoxic agents
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* Corresponding author: Michael Untch michael.untch@helios-kliniken.de
1 HELIOS Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Akademisches LK der Universität Charité, Schwanebecker Chaussee 50, 13125 Berlin, Germany
2 German Breast Group c/o GBG Forschungs GmbH, Schleussnerstr. 42, 63263 Neu-Isenburg, Germany
Breast Cancer Research 2009, 11:203 doi:10.1186/bcr2227
Published: 17 March 2009Abstract
Neoadjuvant therapy, also known as primary, induction, or preoperative therapy, is defined as the first systemic treatment a patient receives after cancer is diagnosed and indicates that subsequent therapies are intended. It was first used in the early 1970s for the treatment of inoperable locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer. Based on a large body of clinical evidence and on the fact that primary breast cancer is today considered a systemic disease with a locoregional component, primary systemic therapy is now increasingly considered for women with operable disease for reducing mortality with lower toxicity, improving surgical options, and acquiring early information on response and biology of the disease.