The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the American Cancer Society have continued their collaboration by updating the patient version NCCN Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients | Breast Cancer Treatment | Imaginis - The Women's Health & Wellness Resource Network

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NCCN Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients


The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the American Cancer Society have continued their collaboration by updating the patient version of the NCCN's breast cancer treatment guidelines, first published in 2000.

Topics covered by the 2005 NCCN Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients include:

  • types of breast cancer
  • tumor sizes
  • tumor stage/grade/hormone status
  • lymph node involvement
  • treatment options (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, drug therapies) side effects of treatments information about clinical trials

The guidelines also include breast cancer "decision trees" which consist of flow charts representing different stages of the disease. Patients are able to apply their individual medical situations to learn about the relevant treatment decisions that need to be made.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (www.nccn.org) is made up of 19 leading cancer care institutions across the United States. In addition to recently updating its patients guidelines in collaboration with the American Cancer Society, the NCCN updated its Breast Cancer Clinical Practice Guidelines for clinicians in December 2005 (see Breast Cancer Clinical Practice Guidelines Updated for more information about the clinician guidelines).

Members of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), as of December 2005
  • City of Hope National Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
  • Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Durham, NC
  • Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
  • Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
  • Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
  • The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD
  • Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chicago, IL
  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
  • H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL
  • Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
  • St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
  • Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, CA
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL
  • UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA
  • University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
  • UNMC/Eppley Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
  • University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

The NCCN Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients (version VII, August 2005) are available to download on the NCCN website at http://www.nccn.org/. Print copies may be obtained by calling the American Cancer Society at 1.800.ACS.2345 or the NCCN at 1.888.909.NCCN.

Updated: August 2006