Locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer: ESMO Clinical Recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in many countries, including developing countries. The crude incidence in the European Union is 109.8/100 000, the mortality is 38.4/100 000 women/year. Since 1990 the incidence rate has increased 1.5% annually. Due to advances both in early detection and in adjuvant treatment, mortality rates from breast cancer have been decreasing steadily in most western countries since the early 1990s. However, it is still the leading cause of cancer mortality in women. Approximately 6% of breast cancers are metastatic at diagnosis with a 5-year survival rate of 21%. Depending on prognostic factors, in the worst scenario, up to 30% of node-negative and up to 70% of node-positive breast cancers will relapse. The prevalence of metastatic disease is high because many women live with the disease for several years.