ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION One of the body compartments most commonly affected by metastatic breast cancer is the thorax. The thoracic surgeon has an important role as a member of the extended multidisciplinary breast cancer team and can help with diagnosis and staging, provide surgical palliation, but also occasionally perform potentially curative resection for localised metastatic disease. It is fair to say that with the signifi cant progress in the systemic treatments of patients with advanced breast cancer in recent years, with resulting prolongation of their survival, the successful surgical palliation achieved by modern thoracic surgery has really transformed their quality of life.
