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Australian Government - Cancer Australia
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CANCER AUSTRALIA STATEMENTS

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  • Breast cancer
  • Metastatic breast cancer

Consumer fact sheets

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  • The 12 Practices
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  • About the Statement
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  • The 12 Practices
  • Consumer Fact Sheets
  • A|A

Appropriate to offer genetic counselling to women with a high familial risk at or around the time that they are diagnosed with breast cancer, with a view to genetic testing to inform decision-making about treatment.

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Genetic testing
familial risk
family history

Appropriate to ensure optimal fixation of breast cancer specimens for accurate pathological examination and biomarker assessment.

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Optimal fixation
pathology
biomarker

Appropriate to consider and discuss fertility and family planning with premenopausal women before they undergo breast cancer treatment.

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Fertility
family planning

Appropriate to offer a choice of either breast conserving surgery followed by radiotherapy, or a mastectomy to patients diagnosed with early breast cancer, as these treatments are equally effective in terms of survival.

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breast conserving surgery
mastectomy

Appropriate to offer a shorter, more intense course of radiotherapy (hypofractionated radiotherapy) as an alternative to conventional radiotherapy for patients with early breast cancer who:

  • are aged 50 years and over;
  • have a cancer at an early pathological stage (T1-2, N0, M0); and
  • have undergone breast conserving surgery with clear surgical margins.
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hypofractionated radiotherapy
treatment

Appropriate to offer patients with early breast cancer the opportunity for their follow-up care to be shared between a primary care physician and a specialist, to provide more accessible, whole-person care.

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Shared follow-up care
shared care
follow-up

Appropriate to offer palliative care early in the management of patients with symptomatic, metastatic breast cancer to improve symptom control and quality of life.

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palliative care
symptom control
quality of life

Appropriate to consider the pre-operative use of chemotherapy or hormonal therapy (systemic, neoadjuvant therapy) informed by hormone and HER2 receptor status, for all patients where these therapies are clinically indicated.

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Neoadjuvant therapy
hormonal therapy
HER2 receptor status

Not appropriate to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of breast cancer without undertaking the triple test, which involves:

  • taking a patient history and clinical breast examination;
  • imaging tests (mammogram and/or ultrasound); and
  • biopsy to remove cells or tissue for examination.
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Triple test
investigating
breast symptoms

Not appropriate to offer a sentinel node biopsy to patients diagnosed with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) having breast conserving surgery, unless clinically indicated.

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Sentinel node biopsy
DCIS
breast conserving surgery

Not appropriate to perform a mastectomy without first discussing with the patient the options of immediate or delayed breast reconstruction.

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mastectomy
breast reconstruction

Not appropriate to perform intensive testing (full blood count, biochemistry or tumour markers) or imaging (chest X-ray, PET, CT and radionuclide bone scans) as part of standard follow-up of patients who have been treated for early breast cancer and who are not experiencing symptoms.

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intensive follow-up testing
follow-up care
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