Review of Breast Conservation Therapy: Then and Now

Table 1

Hypothetical advantages/disadvantages of NST. Only one hypothesis (in bold) is corroborated by current data.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Delivery of systemic therapy via intact tumor vasculature	Inaccurate post-NST staging
In vivo response assessment with potential to tailor therapy accordingly	Treatment of larger overall tumor burden
Earlier treatment of micrometastatic disease	Delay in curative local therapy
Potential to downstage and facilitate BCT	Increased risk for surgical/radiation complications