title: Excellent response to letrozole in brain metastases from breast cancer.
abstract: Breast cancer with multiple parenchymal brain metastases carries an extremely poor outcome. Cranial radiotherapy improves survival by only a few months and the role of systemic therapy is marginal and largely unexplored. We report a patient with recurrent carcinoma of breast presenting with multiple bilateral cervical nodes and brain metastases manifesting as a right hemiparesis and facial nerve palsy, who was treated with palliative whole brain irradiation and letrozole. At the follow up at 20 months, neurological function had fully recovered, and both cerebral and extracerebral lesions had completely resolved, with calcification of the cerebral lesions. This report suggests that letrozole has beneficial effects both in extracranial and intracranial disease in hormone responsive metastatic breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. drshikhagoyal@gmail.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Puri
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Julka
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Rath
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D044584:Carcinoma, Ductal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D016371:Cranial Irradiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077289:Letrozole; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009376:Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary*; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009570:Nitriles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010166:Palliative Care; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014230:Triazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009570:Nitriles; D014230:Triazoles; D000077289:Letrozole