title: Pattern of care in locally advanced breast cancer: focus on local therapy.
abstract: METHODS
  The optimal treatment of locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) remains undetermined. We analyzed factors influencing local therapy in LABC in a pooled material including three large clinical series.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of a total of 787 patients, local therapy was given in 604, surgery in 184, radiotherapy in 69, and a combination thereof in 351. The use of local therapy was related to younger age, lower clinical T and N stage, no skin involvement and no progression during induction chemotherapy. The use of surgery was related to younger age, lower clinical T and N stage, no clinical skin involvement and response to induction chemotherapy. The use of postoperative radiotherapy was correlated with larger tumor size, higher number of positive lymph nodes, positive surgical margin, extracapsular lymph node extension, lymphatic vessel invasion and skin involvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most frequent local therapy in LABC remains a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. Clinical and pathological characteristics influence the type of local treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Ul. Dębinki 7, 80-211 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sinacki
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Badzio
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wełnicka-Jaśkiewicz
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogaerts
authors.forename: Martine J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Piccart
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Therasse
authors.forename: Ian E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatschek
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jassem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies