Multidisciplinary approach to breast cancer management

The 21st Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference took place in Miami Beach, Florida, United States, February 25-28, 2004. This meeting aimed to provide practicing surgical and medical oncologists with a multidisciplinary approach to the practice of breast cancer management with incorporation of molecular biologic translation from laboratory to bedside. The expanding knowledge in molecular biology has given rise to the potential for the use of gene expression profiles, molecular fingerprinting and biomarkers for clinical decision making. The theme of this year's meeting was stated to be, "What can you learn that you can use Monday morning and what can you look forward to on Friday?" It is the focus on the most recent practical advances that attracted more than 450 international participants to this 3-day meeting. More than half of all presentations explored recent advances in early breast cancer biology, predictive and prognostic markers, prevention and early diagnosis. This report will collate various presentations to attempt to present a coherent picture of the advances in this area.