The timing of breast and axillary surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has traditionally been used in locally advanced and inflammatory breast cancer, allowing for a reduction in disease volume and therefore optimizing surgical resection of disease in the breast. NAC impacts both the tumor in the breast and the lymph nodes and may allow for the option of breast-conserving surgery and avoiding an axillary dissection. The aim of this review is to discuss the considerations and timing of surgical treatment of the breast and the axilla following NAC in patients with breast cancer.