De-escalation in breast cancer surgery

Abstract

In recent years, several trials of breast cancer treatment have failed to demonstrate a survival benefit for some previously routine surgical therapies in selected patient groups. As each of these therapeutic approaches has been deemed of low value deimplementation has varied significantly. This demonstrates that effective de-escalation in breast cancer surgery relies on more than the availability of data from randomized controlled trials and other high-quality evidence, but is also influenced by various stakeholders, social expectations, and environmental contexts.