Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death. The clinical evaluation and therapeutic options for patients with noninvasive or invasive breast cancer are complex and varied.  Healthcare professionals need to be educated on current and emerging scientific data to make evidence-based treatment decisions, to communicate treatment options to patients effectively in order to make shared treatment decisions, and to provide optimal care for patients with breast cancer.

As the complexity and importance of screening, testing, and individualized treatment strategies for breast cancer have increased, so has clinicians’ reliance on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Breast Cancer Guidelines and NCCN’s educational interventions to increase knowledge and bridge the gaps between knowledge and competence.

The NCCN 2016 Congress Series™: Breast Cancer will present a comprehensive summary of the most up-to-date research and clinical data presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium®.  According to William J. Gradishar, MD (Betsy Bramsen Professor of Breast Oncology; Professor of Medicine; Director, Maggie Daley Center for Women’s Cancer Care; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Hospital), “Health care providers caring for patients with breast cancer are increasingly challenged by new developments in disease management. The optimal treatment of breast cancer is becoming increasingly complex requiring an understanding of the biology of the disease, which, in turn, can inform treatment recommendations both locally and systemically.  The SABCS Updates will review data-driven changes to the breast cancer practice guidelines affecting decisions regarding risk reduction strategies, local therapy options including surgical management, local-regional radiation therapy recommendations, and optimal systemic therapy for early-stage breast cancer and advanced disease.  Defining risk of recurrence and potential benefit from specific treatment modalities for patients with early-stage disease has been the promise of genomic profile signatures and will be considered within the context of practice guidelines.  Additionally, key emerging data from SABCS will be reviewed that may influence practice in the future.”