Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer

Survival from breast cancer has improved significantly and this is partly due to the increased use and understanding of adjuvant therapy. Treatments are changing rapidly and clinicians can choose more precisely what may be beneficial. Radiotherapy is a local adjuvant treatment used to decrease the risk of local recurrence. Systemic adjuvant therapies have been assessed by regular meta-analyses of multiple trials by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists Collaborative Group. Treatments have progressed from surgical removal of ovaries to hormonal regimens, chemotherapy regimens and antibody-specific treatments. Treatments include tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, chemotherapy regimens using anthracyclines ± taxanes, and trastuzumab (antibody against the HER2 receptor). Final decisions on treatments should be made after discussion at the multidisciplinary meeting with the patient, and after consulting the Internet website ‘Adjuvant! Online’.