Curing Metastatic Breast Cancer

Metastatic breast cancer is generally considered incurable, and this colors doctor-patient interactions for patients with metastatic disease. Although true for most patients, there appear to be i mportant exceptions, instances where long-term disease-free survival occurs. Although these instances are few in number, they suggest the possibility of cure. How will we move toward cure for a much larger population of patients with metastatic disease? This article outlines a potential research agenda that might move us toward that distant goal.