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Advanced breast cancer: diagnosis and treatment

  • Clinical guideline
  • Reference number: CG81
  • Published:  23 February 2009
  • Last updated:  30 June 2026
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  • Overview
  • Using this guideline
  • Providing information and supportive care, and data collection to improve care
  • Diagnosis and assessment
  • Systemic anticancer therapy
  • Managing treatment side effects and menopausal symptoms
  • Managing uncontrolled local disease and metastases
  • Terms used in this guideline
  • Recommendations for research
  • Finding more information and committee details
  • Update information

Using this guideline

People have the right to be involved in discussions and make informed decisions about their care, as described in NICE's information about shared decision making.

Healthcare professionals should follow our general guidelines for people delivering care:

  • Decision making and mental capacity

  • Medicines adherence

  • Medicines optimisation

  • Multimorbidity

  • Patient experience in adult NHS services

  • People's experience in adult social care services

  • Service user experience in adult mental health

  • Shared decision making

Making decisions using NICE guidelines explains how we use words to show the strength (or certainty) of our recommendations, and has information about prescribing medicines (including off-label use), professional guidelines, standards and laws (including on consent and mental capacity), and safeguarding.


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