[Breast cancer; article for education and training purposes]

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring malignancy in women. Every year, this type of cancer is newly diagnosed in almost 15,000 women and over 100 men in the Netherlands. Survival depends on the stage of disease and has improved over time. However, every year approximately 3100 women die of breast cancer in the Netherlands. Recent developments in breast cancer care focus on more breast and axilla conserving treatments, and the omission or more limited application of adjuvant chemotherapy or additional radiotherapy if it is deemed safe. In this educational article we discuss aspects of detection, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of breast cancer.