The progress of new therapies for solid tumors usually gradually transitions from late stage to early stage. Early treatment of Luminal breast cancer has entered the era of “endocrine therapy +”, with the strengthening of treatment duration and intensity, combined with targeted therapy and multi-gene detection, which still coexist with clinical parameters. For HER2-positive early breast cancer, neoadjuvant therapy has changed the treatment process, requiring exploration of precise strengthening and de-escalation of neoadjuvant therapy. “Neoadjuvant therapy changes adjuvant therapy, and early treatment affects recurrence treatment”. Although the early treatment of triple-negative breast cancer once showed a complicated state of “a hundred schools of thought contend”, today’s treatment strategy is far from focusing on the simple respond of those three negative markers. The core lies in precise diagnosis and classification for treatment! This article summarizes the progress of early breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, in order to provide valuable reference for clinicians’ practical application.
[Abstract]Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, and its treatment and management strategies are crucial for improving patients’ prognosis and quality of life. Early breast cancer refers to lesions confined to the breast and regional lymph nodes (N1 stage) without distant metastasis. Thanks to the improvement of screening techniques, the detection rate of early breast cancer has increased. The "early diagnosis and early treatment" model has led to a decrease in breast cancer mortality, especially among young women. The 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of early breast cancer aims to provide comprehensive and standardized recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of early breast cancer, helping clinicians make optimal decisions. This article interprets the main content of the guideline in order to provide references and assistance for the current clinical diagnosis and treatment of early breast cancer in China.