Breast cancer: Noninvasive and special situations

The therapeutic options for patients with noninvasive or invasive breast cancer are complex and varied. In many situations, the patient and physician have the responsibility to jointly explore and select the most appropriate option from among the available alternatives. With few exceptions, the evaluation, treatment, and follow-up recommendations in these guidelines are based on the results of past and present clinical trials. However, no single clinical situation exists in which the treatment of breast cancer has been optimized with respect to either maximizing cure or minimizing toxicity and disfigurement. Therefore, patient/physician participation in prospective clinical trials allows patients to not only receive state-of-the-art cancer treatment but also contribute to improving the treatment of future patients.