Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

Locally advanced breast cancers are large cancers that are often fixed to the skin or the underlying chest wall muscles, and may be associated with large underarm lymph nodes. There is however, no associated skin redness (if there is redness we classify them as inflammatory breast cancers). These cancers have a better prognosis than do breast cancers with an associated inflammatory process.

The diagnosis of these locally advanced breast cancer tumors is straight-forward. We do a mammogram of both breasts and then do a core biopsy of the tumor. A metastatic workup is performed and a course of chemotherapy is given. In most cases this is followed by mastectomy and irradiation