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Dear Colleague,
It is a pleasure for us to welcome you to the 10th Milan Breast Cancer Conference – a conference
of innovations in patient care. Reaching the 10th year is an important milestone for a meeting focused
on innovation in care and research in the field of breast cancer. Each of the past nine conferences has
had a first class faculty and a setting which fostered creative discussions. This conference will also
include new information, consolidated knowledge and conversations on controversial issues regarding
diagnosis, treatment strategies and disease prevention. The tenth assembly of this conference will provide
a stimulating forum for the presentation of innovation and ongoing and future research in breast cancer.
This year’s 10th Anniversary conference will focus upon four important areas of research and
treatment. The first involves tailored treatment approaches to patients with the disease. Breast cancer is a
heterogeneous disease, which presents in very different ways and in patients with a variety of biological,
social and human characteristics. Pathological and biological assessment, genetics and molecular
evaluation are integrated into therapeutic decision-making strategies and trials are now designed to
improve profiling for treatment choice. The prejudice of a “one size fits all” is being challenged more than
ever before by focusing on how diversity can be used to improve treatment outcome. Significant progress
has been achieved with the availability of targeted systemic treatments, such as an increased number of
endocrine agents, monoclonal antibodies and agents that interact with strategically important cellular components.
These approaches provide an incentive for further developments based upon molecular medicine
technology.
A second focus of the conference will be the current understanding of angiogenesis and how it
can be a target for therapeutic intervention. This will be the topic of The European Institute of Oncology
Award Lecture at the opening of this Anniversary Conference.
Opportunities to tailor surgery and radiation therapy represent a third area of continuing interest
at the conference. Refinements of multidisciplinary approaches include surgery, intra and postoperative
radiation therapy to obtain the best local disease control and to minimize the side effects of proper
treatment. Part of such programs also include preoperative systemic therapies which permit more efficient
control of local disease and obtaining important information on tumor regression with specific therapies to
improve knowledge on tailoring of treatment. Research on biomarkers which predict treatment outcome
as soon as possible has become an integrated part of the preoperative systemic therapy program, and
details about such developments will be discussed.
The fourth area of focus will be the treatment of very young women with breast cancer. For the
very young, there are specific areas of concern such as issues of career, family and child bearing. There,
unfortunately, has been a paucity of research regarding the treatment of these patients and the discussions
during these conference sessions will provide useful therapeutic approaches.
Milan, an internationally renowned center for breast cancer research, continues to house a
tradition of innovation, care and research. Reports on new surgical approaches, improved radiation
treatments and advances in medical therapies will ensure an exciting and productive 10th Anniversary
Conference.
Welcome! We hope you have an enjoyable and inspiring conference.
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Umberto Veronesi and Aron Goldhirsch
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CONFERENCE CO-ORDINATORS
S. Cinieri - M. Colleoni - S. Zurrida
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