Neoadjuvant therapy is used for larger tumors to shrink them, reduce lymph node burden, and tailor subsequent treatment based on observed response.

“by giving the drug therapy first we usually can shrink the tumor either in the breast or particularly in the lymph nodes as well and so that means we can offer very good outcomes the same good outcomes but with less surgery so women who might have needed a mastectomy might now be able to have a lumpectomy if the tumor shrinks or women who might have been obliged to undergo a so-called axillary lymph node dissection where all the lymph noes in the armpit are removed that carries a greater risk of limited restrictive uh limited range of motion in the arm or lymphadema in the arm now might be a candidate for a sentinal node biopsy”