Early breast cancer is cancer that’s in the breast or has only spread to nearby lymph nodes under the arm, known as axillary lymph nodes. Stages 1 and 2 are often described as early breast cancer, and in the U.S., most breast cancers are found at these stages. With treatment, the outcome is usually very good.

Locally advanced breast cancer can be a large tumor in the breast and/or one that has spread beyond the breast to the chest wall, skin of the breast or to many axillary lymph nodes. Stage 3 and inflammatory breast cancers are often described as locally advanced breast cancer.

Treatment for early and locally advanced breast cancers usually involves a combination of therapies. These can include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, HER2-targeted therapy, CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy, immunotherapy and PARP inhibitor therapy.

For early breast cancer, surgery is usually the first step. It may be a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. With either surgery, some axillary lymph nodes are also removed to check if the cancer has spread there.

After a mastectomy, most people don’t need radiation therapy if the lymph nodes are cancer-free. However, in some cases, it may be used to treat the chest wall, axillary lymph nodes and/or lymph nodes around the collarbone.

Most people who have a lumpectomy get radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells and lower the risk of the cancer returning.

Many people with early breast cancer will get drug treatments after surgery to reduce the risk of recurrence. This is called adjuvant therapy. These may include some combination of chemotherapy, hormone therapy that’s taken with or without a CDK4/6 inhibitor, HER2-targeted therapy, immunotherapy and/or PARP inhibitor therapy.

Some people receive drug therapies before surgery, which is called neoadjuvant therapy. This can be chemotherapy, hormone therapy, HER2-targeted therapy or immunotherapy.

Some people with early breast cancer receive neoadjuvant therapy first. This can help shrink the tumor and make a lumpectomy an option instead of a mastectomy.

Treatment for locally advanced breast cancer usually begins with neoadjuvant therapy, to shrink the tumor and affected lymph nodes before surgery. The first treatment for inflammatory breast cancer is neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

In some cases, the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy can help guide post-surgery treatment.

For more information, visit the Treatment section on komen.org.