Kimberly Van Zee, MD, an attending surgeon in the Department of Breast Cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and professor of Surgery at the Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses the importance of preventing invasive recurrence in patients with breast cancer at the 21st Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium.
Because there are such wide variations in the recurrence rate and quality of life among the different treatment options for these patients, physicians can find the decision making process very difficult, says Van Zee. The goal of any treatment, however, is to prevent recurrence because half of all recurrences will be invasive.
Overall survival data in all studies have been excellent, so treatment decisions will be made based on local recurrences rather than survival, Van Zee adds. Since local recurrence is associated with a lower risk of invasive recurrence and a lower risk of needing chemotherapy, as well as having a survival impact.
