High-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell rescue is a highly effective approach for treating metastatic breast cancer, and may also prove useful in nonmetastatic disease, according to the results of recent trials. This approach to treatment resulted in better overall clinical response rates, longer periods of remission, and enhanced overall survival, compared with historical controls, in patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to investigators at the 19th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium [San Antonio, Texas, US; December 1996].