De-escalating Surgery Among Patients with HER2 + and Triple Negative Breast Cancer

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: De-escalation of surgery has been central in the evolution of multidisciplinary management of breast cancer. Advances in oncology and increasing use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) have opened opportunities for further surgical de-escalation especially for HER2 + and triple negative (TN) disease. The aim of this review is to discuss the recent data on de-escalation of surgery as well as the future directions. RECENT FINDINGS: Patients with TN and HER2 + breast cancer with excellent response to NACT would be the ideal candidates for surgical de-escalation. Post-NACT image-guided biopsy, potentially combined with machine learning algorithms, may accurately identify patients achieving pathologic complete response that would be eligible for clinical trials assessing safety of omission of breast and axillary surgery. SUMMARY: Multidisciplinary research is required to further support results of preliminary studies. Current data point towards a future when even less or no surgery may be required for exceptional responders.