title: Chairperson's introduction: Despite significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, approximately one third of patients still develop, and subsequently die from metastatic breast disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen R D
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Johnston
mesh_terms: D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D016019:Survival Analysis