Cancer of the breast

This chapter covers the epidemiology of breast cancer, reproductive and non-reproductive risk factors, as well as aspects of the molecular biology and classification of breast cancer. It presents an overview of the major oncogenic signaling pathways in breast cancer, along with the major findings from next generation sequencing studies in breast cancer, and the role of gene expression signatures in predicting response to primary systemic therapy. The chapter also covers the pathology of breast cancer, and discusses the surgical management of breast cancer in detail. Furthermore, there is an overview of radiotherapy treatment strategies for breast cancer, which is followed by a detailed overview of the medical management of breast cancer with chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy, and bone-modifying agents. Finally, the multidisciplinary management of breast cancer is discussed using case studies