Breast cancer
- Study type
- Review article
- Design
- Review article (Seminar) in the Lancet
- Source
- The Lancet · 2021
In plain words
This is a review article explaining that breast cancer is still the most common cancer in the world. Today, treatment is chosen according to the molecular features of each tumour, such as hormone receptor status and HER2. This is why treatments are tailored to each patient more than in the past, and in some cases surgery and radiotherapy have become less extensive. The right treatment should be chosen together with your own doctor.
Study population
This is not a primary study and no patients were enrolled; the article reviews breast cancer, its biomarkers and its treatment options.
Endpoints
This is a review article and no primary or secondary endpoints were defined.
Safety and side effects
The abstract does not present safety or adverse event data.
Clinical significance and place in guidelines
This review gives an overview of current breast cancer treatment. Biomarkers are the basis of diagnosis and treatment choice. Neoadjuvant treatment (especially in HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer) is the standard of care, and de-escalation of surgery and radiotherapy has become common. In metastatic disease, targeted therapies and immunotherapy are chosen according to tumour type and molecular profile. This article is not a formal clinical guideline, and the latest clinical guidelines should be consulted for treatment decisions.
Limitations
This is a narrative review and presents no primary data or new statistical analysis. The abstract does not describe how sources were searched or studies selected. Treatments and guidelines may have changed since publication (2021). The article also has an erratum: Lancet. 2021;397(10286):1710.
This summary was prepared by the editorial team from the published paper; the original paper is the final reference. Read the original abstract on PubMed.