Overview of breast cancer staging and surgical treatment options

Following diagnosis of breast cancer, patients undergo assessment for local and systemic treatment. Establishing a relationship and communication with the patient is critical to this assessment, as are history-taking, clinical breast examination, review of imaging studies, and interactive discussion with the patient of treatment options and possible breast reconstruction. Some type of surgical therapy is indicated in virtually all women with breast cancer, generally as the first part of a multicomponent treatment plan. The main goal of surgical therapy is to remove the cancer and accurately define the stage of disease. Surgical options broadly consist of breast conservation therapy, generally followed by radiation therapy, or mastectomy. The surgical procedure also includes assessment of regional lymph nodes for metastasis, either by axillary lymph node dissection or by the less-invasive sentinel lymph node biopsy, for the purpose of cancer staging and guiding adjuvant therapy.