ABSTRACT
In the UK breast cancer affects 1 in 9 women during their lifetime, with an annual incidence that has now reached > 41 000, with approximately 13 000 deaths per year.1
Approximately 5-10% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients have locally advanced/metastatic disease at the outset, and 20-70% of patients (depending on their tumour biology, initial stage of disease and subsequent therapy) will develop recurrent/metastatic disease in the future. It is estimated that in the UK over 100 000 women are living with advanced/metastatic breast cancer at any one time. Once metastatic disease has been diagnosed it cannot be cured, and the overall median survival from the time metastatic disease is confirmed is between 2 and 3 years.
