ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION In the United Kingdom, breast cancer affects up to 1 in 8 women during their lifetime; with an annual incidence that has now reached more than 41,000, the death rate is approximately 12,000 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 United Kingdom over 100,000 women are living with advanced/metastatic breast cancer (MBC) at any one time. Once the metastatic disease is diagnosed it cannot be cured, and the overall median survival from the time metastatic disease is confi rmed is between 2 and 3 years.
