Treatment and prognosis of brain metastases from breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
To analyze retrospectively the results of treatments for patients with brain metastases from breast cancer.


METHODS
The records of 65 breast cancer patients with brain metastases who were treated between 1985 and 2005 were reviewed. For brain metastases, 11 patients (17%) were treated with surgical resection followed by radiotherapy, and the remaining 54 patients were treated with radiotherapy alone. Systemic chemotherapy was also administered to 11 patients after brain radiotherapy.


RESULTS
The overall median survival for all patients was 6.1 months (range, 0.4-82.2 months). In univariate analysis, treatment modality, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), administration of systemic chemotherapy, extracranial disease status and total radiation dose each had significant impact on overall survival, and in multivariate analysis, treatment modality, KPS and administration of systemic chemotherapy were significant prognostic factors. Eight patients survived for more than 2 years after the diagnosis of brain metastases, and all these patients were treated with surgical resection and/or systemic chemotherapy in addition to radiotherapy. For the 45 patients treated with palliative radiotherapy (without systemic chemotherapy), the improvements in neurological symptoms were observed in 35 patients (78%), with the median duration of improvement of 3.1 months (range, 1.5-4.4 months).


CONCLUSIONS
The prognoses for patients with brain metastases from breast cancer were generally poor, although selected patients may survive longer with intensive brain tumor treatment, such as surgical resection and/or systemic chemotherapy in addition to brain radiotherapy. For patients with unfavorable prognoses, palliative radiotherapy was effective in improving the quality of the remaining lifetime.
Ogawa
Kazuhiko
K
Department of Radiology, University of the Ryukyus School of Medicine, 207 Uehara, Nishihara-cho, Okinawa, Japan. kogawa@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Yoshii
Yoshihiko
Y
Nishimaki
Tadashi
T
Tamaki
Nobumitsu
N
Miyaguni
Takao
T
Tsuchida
Yukihiro
Y
Kamada
Yoshihiko
Y
Toita
Takafumi
T
Kakinohana
Yasumasa
Y
Tamaki
Wakana
W
Iraha
Shiro
S
Adachi
Genki
G
Hyodo
Akio
A
Murayama
Sadayuki
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011878:Radiotherapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis