title: Tumor-associated Fever in Recurrent Breast Cancer with Liver Metastases.
abstract: Of 67 patients with recurrent breast cancer accompanied by liver metastases admitted to our facility between January 1990 and August 1993, 8(12%) were found to have tumor-associated fever. We examined the characteristics of these patents. These patients had fever (over 38 degrees C) for more than one week. Their leukocyte counts did not exceed 10000/mm(3), and C-reactive protein (CRP) was below 5 mg/dl in 6 patients. ALL 8 patients had extensive liver metastases. Six patients had massive metastatic lesions, while the remaining 2 had diffuse metastases. Following systemic chemotherapy, 3 patients showed a reduction in tumor size and remission of fever; they remain alive at 14, 16 and 19 months after treatment. Of the remaining 5 patients who did not respond to systemic chemotherapy, 4 died within 6 months. The results of this study suggest that unexplained fever in patients with recurrent breast cancer is closely related to liver metastases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, Japan.
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Narabayashi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokue
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katsumata