Early stage breast cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for women worldwide. Therefore, effective management of this disease is of critical importance. A variety of risk factors for this disease have been identified, including genetic mutations which confer susceptibility to breast cancer. Despite knowledge of these risk factors, no effective prevention strategy for breast cancer has yet been developed although there are several prevention trials currently underway.Decades of clinical trials and meta-analyses compiling these data have led to consensus about some issues in the treatment of breast cancer. There is no difference in survival between women treated with breast conserving therapy and those treated with mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy is clearly beneficial for women with early stage breast cancer regardless of age or nodal status. Adjuvant tamoxifen improves survival for women with hormone receptor-positive tumours, particularly those over the age of 50 years. Recent efforts have attempted to stratify women by risk to identify both those who might safely forego adjuvant therapy and those who would benefit from more effective options than the current standard. A number of important questions remain unanswered and are the focus of ongoing study. Along with increased and successful use of adjuvant therapy has come a recognition and study of the late effects of therapy on the survivors of breast cancer.This article reviews the current standards for management of early stage breast cancer including risk factors, staging and prognosis, local therapy, adjuvant therapy, and late effects of therapy.