Unfortunately for those with cancer, it is obvious that cancer was originally somehow able to overrun the body s immune system and develop into a distinct tumor burden. While many treatments in medicine have advanced greatly in recent years, it still remains that to cure breast cancer, or any cancer, requires the destruction of the cancerous tissues without undue harm to the surrounding tissues or the patients organ systems at large. Surgical techniques and approaches have improved dramatically over time. Today it is no longer standard therapy to perform a radical mastectomy, in fact the procedure is performed on an very infrequent basis. Lumpectomy and quadrantectomies with axillary node dissections are standard therapy.
Radiation therapy is considered standard care in order to prevent local-regional recurrence.
Until recently this required systemic treatments that exerted a tremendous toll on the entire body. Clinical data on the best treatment approaches and recent strides in medical oncology may begin to show better responses than with historical standards of care. New agents are being researched. An estimated 45 agents were in clinical trials in 1997 for breast cancer. Adjuvant therapy, either hormonal or chemotherapeutic have become standardized in the treatment of primary breast cancer.