Cáncer de mama

Abstract

Breast cancer is a health problem with a high incidence worldwide. It is a heterogeneous disease, with anatomical-pathological and molecular differences and a highly variable clinical behavior. It is divided into three main subtypes according to the immunohistochemical presence or absence of hormone receptors (HR) or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2): hormonal breast cancer (HR positive/HER2 negative; accounting for approximately two-thirds of diagnoses), HER2 positive breast cancer, and triple negative breast cancer (tumors that express neither HR nor HER2). Early diagnosis and preventive strategies in high-risk women, such as carriers of pathogenic variants in cancer susceptibility genes, are essential in order to increase patient survival. In addition, advances in knowledge of its etiopathogenesis have improved therapeutic strategies and, consequently, disease prognosis.