Early Breast Cancer: Diagnosis and Management (NICE NG101)

NICE NG101 covers the diagnosis and management of early and locally advanced breast cancer including surgery, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, and follow-up.

Key Recommendations

• All suspicious breast lesions: triple assessment (clinical, imaging, biopsy)
• Breast conserving surgery with axillary node assessment as standard for early breast cancer
• Sentinel lymph node biopsy for clinically node-negative disease
• Adjuvant chemotherapy for high-risk early breast cancer (HER2+, triple-negative, node-positive)
• Trastuzumab for 12 months for all HER2-positive early breast cancer
• Endocrine therapy for ER-positive disease: tamoxifen 5-10 years; aromatase inhibitor for post-menopausal
• Radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery for all patients