The 11th Qingdao Breast Disease Conference and the 9th “Langya Forum” were recently held in the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao. The event brought together leading experts and emerging talents in breast oncology from across China and beyond to share cutting-edge research, discuss innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, and chart the future of breast disease management.

Hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative (HR+/HER2−) breast cancer is the most common molecular subtype of breast cancer. Although patients with this subtype generally have a favorable prognosis, its high heterogeneity means that some individuals remain at risk of disease recurrence.In recent years, adjuvant treatment strategies have been continuously refined — evolving from standard endocrine therapy to the incorporation of CDK4/6 inhibitors — significantly improving patient outcomes.In this edition of Oncology Frontier, Professor Juliang Zhang from the Department of Breast, Thyroid, and Vascular Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, shares his insights on adjuvant intensified therapy for HR+/HER2− breast cancer.

Breast cancer remains the most common malignancy among women, with persistently high incidence and mortality rates. Its heterogeneity, drug resistance, and the toxicity associated with conventional therapies continue to challenge clinical management.In recent years, rare-earth-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted growing attention in breast cancer research owing to their unique optical properties, tunable synthesis, and flexible functionalization strategies.Recently, the research teams led by Professor Xiaoyun Mao from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University and Professor Wen Xu from the School of Physics and Materials Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, published a cover review in Theranostics titled 'Engineered Upconversion Nanoparticles for Breast Cancer Theranostics.'This review systematically summarizes the progress of UCNP-based strategies in breast cancer diagnosis and therapy, while also discussing challenges in clinical translation and future development directions.

Editor’s Note: With the expanding role of neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer, pathologic complete response (pCR) has become an important indicator for evaluating treatment efficacy. Whether patients who achieve pCR…