Rationale for combined therapy

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Abstract
The presence of micrometastatic disease at the time of diagnosis is the major cause of failure in the treatment of cancer. The mechanisms, biology, and biochemistry of tumor metastases at an experimental level are being effectively studied. Potential control points and therapeutic implications are emerging. These are being employed in the construction of clinical trials involving adjuvant chemotherapy. This is part of combined modality treatment in which the best of treatment design to achieve local control (surgery and/or x-ray) is combined with systemic treatment (chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy) designed to irradicate microscopic metastases. The evolution of such studies in patients with breast cancer and osteogenic sarcoma over the past five years is presented. Disease-free survival has improved as a result of adjuvant chemotherapy for both of these diseases. While a longer follow-up will be required to determine more precisely the impact of multi-disciplinary treatment on these and other diseases, the short-time results are promising.