State of the Science and the Intraductal Approach for Breast Cancer: Proceedings Summary of The Sixth International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach To Breast Cancer Santa Monica, California, 19–21 February 2009

Researchers are using the intraductal approach to advance breast cancer risk assessment, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Procedures and technologies that can access and interrogate the ductal-alveolar systems include nipple aspiration, ductal lavage and ductoscopy. Ductoscopic papillectomy, ductoscopic margin evaluation, and intraductal therapy are considered promising investigational and innovative treatments. These techniques are used to explore the biology of the normal breast; collect and analyze breast fluid and cells to identify biomarkers that can be used in breast cancer detection and risk assessment; and to identify new ways to find and administer therapeutic and/or preventive agents to the breast tissue. This report summarizes the latest research findings in these areas, presented at The 6th International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach to Breast Cancer in 2009. Introduction The human breast is composed of multiple ductal lobular systems that each open onto the surface of the nipple. These ductal systems arborize into ductal trees with associated lobules and are lined with epithelial cells, where most breast cancers are thought to originate. The application of suction to the nipple openings (nipple aspiration) and ductal lavage are used to collect fluid and exfoliated cells from the breast ducts. Many substances associated with the growth, development, and tumorigeneses of the breast have been detected in breast fluids. Cytological techniques have shown that breast cancer-associated abnormalities can be found in these cells [1-6]. In addition, the production and cytological properties of nipple aspirate fluid are associated with breast cancer risk, with long-term follow-up of women undergoing nipple aspiration having shown that breast cancer risk is two to five times greater in women diagnosed with cytologic atypia than it is for women who do not yield fluid [7]. The first International Intraductal Symposium was held in 1999. A biennial event, the Symposium includes discusfrom 6th International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach to Breast Cancer Santa Monica, CA, USA. 19–21 February 2009 Published: 24 July 2009 BMC Proceedings 2009, 3(Suppl 5):I1 doi:10.1186/1753-6561-3-S5-I1 6th International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach to Breast Cancer Susan Rochman, Dixie Mills, Julian Kim, Henry Kuerer and Susan Love Meeting abstracts – A single PDF containing all abstracts in this Supplement is available here. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1753-6561-3-S5-info.pdf This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1753-6561/3/S5/I1 © 2009 Rochman et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.