Breast Health Institute

The goals of the first two conferences were to determine a universally acceptable system of classification and to outline guidelines for treatment for this non-invasive form of cancer that represents about one-quarter of all newly detected breast cancers. The third conference dealt with Sentinel Node Biopsy, a procedure initially employed around 1993 that has grown exponentially. The group reached consensus regarding the accuracy of the procedure, best techniques, handling of specimens and the role of the technique in non-invasive cancers. The articles produced as a result of these conferences are widely cited and the subject of frequent requests for reprints.

The 2003 conference addressed Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer. Currently, as many as 20% of women with breast cancer present with "locally advanced" disease. Although much research has focused on the earlier detection of breast cancer, much less attention has been paid to this group of unfortunate women with respect to treatment options that may provide breast conservation instead of mastectomy as well as increased survival. The conference panelists analyzed and debated extant information about the treatment of this group of patients, using this information and their own experience to make recommendations for patient care, as well to define areas for further research.

In April 2005, Breast Health International convened its Fifth International Consensus Conference which took in Milan, Italy The focus of this three-day meeting was to develop guidelines to review what has been learned about breast conservation in the past twenty-five years since its widespread introduction, to develop guidelines for the selection of patients for breast conservation, and to review new techniques of breast conservation to benefit a greater number of patients with breast cancer.