During the last decade, important advancements on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis and progression of breast cancer have been made, particularly regarding the mechanisms of control of the cell cycle, apoptosis, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Translation of basic research to the clinical setting by the identification of assessable markers associated with the above biological mechanisms has permitted verification of the clinical significance of several prognostic indicators and has highlighted the heterogeneous nature of invasive breast cancer.Reprinted from Breast Cancer Research And Treatment, this text contains original papers, overviews, and position papers on the methodological aspects and the clinical significance of the more interesting prognostic and predictive indicators. Ultimately, the determination of biological prognostic and predictive markers with easily applicable, reproducible, and standardizable assays is an integral part of future research aimed to improve the management of patients operated for breast cancer in the years to come. Novel therapeutic strategies based not only on chemotherapy or hormone therapy, but directed at interfering with the molecular targets involved in tumor progression and metastasis, warrant clinical testing and are a major challenge to enhance the potential cure of breast cancer.

Adjuvant treatment is administered prior to or as follow up to surgical procedures for breast cancer. Proven success in using medical therapies allowing for breast conserving procedures or reducing risk of occurrence. Although there has been much progress towards a cure, including the introduction of new targeted therapies, metastasizing cancer remains highly incurable.

Expert laboratory and clinical researchers from around the world review how to design and evaluate studies of tumor markers and examine their use in breast cancer patients. The authors cover both the major advances in sophisticated molecular methods and the state-of-the-art in conventional prognostic and predictive indicators. Among the topics discussed are the relevance of rigorous study design and guidelines for the validation studies of new biomarkers, gene expression profiling by tissue microarrays, adjuvant systemic therapy, and the use of estrogen, progesterone, and epidermal growth factor receptors as both prognostic and predictive indicators. Highlights include the evaluation of HER2 and EGFR family members, of p53, and of UPA/PAI-1; the detection of rare cells in blood and marrow; and the detection and analysis of soluble, circulating markers.

A complete multidisciplinary guide to breast surgical oncology Includes DVD with surgical video clips and breast ultrasound atlas A Doody's Core Title for 2011! A British Medical Association Book Awards Runner-up, Oncology category! "Kuerer's new textbook of Breast Surgical Oncology is a comprehensive volume that contains exceptionally detailed and thorough information about the diverse aspects of breast cancer care, and would serve as a valuable resource for any breast cancer clinician, regardless of their specialty. ... (the book) is easy to read and navigate, where clinicians can quickly obtain reliable, up-to-date information on a broad range of topics relevant to breast cancer. --Annals of Surgery, August 2010 4 STAR DOODY'S REVIEW! "...a comprehensive and authoritative synthesis of current information is sorely needed, and this book fulfills that need admirably....The figures (many in color) and tables reproduce beautifully. The chapters on ultrasound, clinical trials, and plastic surgery, are particularly valuable. This is a terrific and incredibly useful book on breast surgical oncology, and will be an important reference in the field."--Doody's Review Service Written by an internationally recognized multidisciplinary team of authors, Kuerer's Breast Surgical Oncology is the first text specifically dedicated to breast surgical oncology. Turn to any page, and you’ll find cutting-edge, evidence-based information and insights—supplemented by a full-color presentation and a companion DVD—all designed to help provide a solid foundation for current and future best practices. Kuerer's examines all clinically relevant knowledge in the field, from the pathology of the breast and clinical management, to follow-up and complications following diagnosis and therapy. The book also focuses on the next wave of molecular studies that represent the future of the discipline. Features Complete integration of the relevant disease pathology with clinical management Major sections on both oncoplastic and advanced operative management procedures An entire section on landmark breast cancer clinical trials that highlights essential knowledge and evidence in the field Full-color design with 750 illustrations that depict anatomy, breast cancer pathology, and trial results A DVD with surgical video clips that details some of the important surgical techniques and procedures featured in the text An entire section on breast imaging and an atlas on breast ultrasound and biopsy techniques that facilitate accurate diagnosis and treatment Timely, special chapter on the influence of the media and the internet on breast cancer care and the funding of breast cancer research A detailed overview of currently open and accruing clinical trials, along with the future critical questions that must be answered to move the field forward Coverage of molecular findings that provides an enhanced perspsective on the full spectrum of malignancies with which they work

Despite recent advances in adjuvant therapies of cancer, the regi mens of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy treatment which are presently available fail to cure the majority of cancer patients. Pre operative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy represents a new approach in drug scheduling, based on sound theoretical, pharmacokinetic, and experimental principles. The preoperative timing of chemotherapy before definitive sur gery is not a minor change in the therapy of cancer. To be successful, large numbers of practitioners and their patients must participate. Substantial alterations of many aspects of the present management of cancer will have to follow. Therefore, before such therapy can be fully and routinely implemented, results of the novel treatment and its rationale have to be carefully evaluated. In preoperative treatment, other features will likely gain impor tance. For the first time, clinicians have a chance to follow the in vivo response of the tumor exposed to preoperative chemotherapy. The subsequent histological assessment of the tumor sample may likely become an important prognostic guide, permitting more re fined individual approaches to the planning of postoperative adju vant treatment. The value of such a treatment strategy can already be appreciated in the clinical setting, as seen from the therapy of osteosarcoma. Furthermore, preoperative chemotherapy might render previously inoperable tumors operable and hence resectable with a curative intention. The preoperative reduction of tumor bulk may also effectively decrease the need for more radical operations, permitting a more uniform adoption of conservative surgery.

Readers will find in the pages of this book a treatment of the statistical analysis of clustered survival data. Such data are encountered in many scientific disciplines including human and veterinary medicine, biology, epidemiology, public health and demography. A typical example is the time to death in cancer patients, with patients clustered in hospitals. Frailty models provide a powerful tool to analyze clustered survival data. In this book different methods based on the frailty model are described and it is demonstrated how they can be used to analyze clustered survival data. All programs used for these examples are available on the Springer website.