Factors associated with mortality after breast cancer metastasis.
BACKGROUND
It is generally accepted that patients with breast cancer metastases have very poor survival. Metastatic breast cancer patients can be considered a heterogeneous population with a varied clinical course, which underscores the need for accurate prediction of survival based on prognostic factors. The purpose of the present study was to identify factors related to survival in breast cancer patients after diagnosis with metastatic disease.


METHODS
A total of 557 patients with breast cancer metastasis diagnosis seen at one large urban practice have been followed up between 1 January, 1999 and 30 June, 2010. Demographic, tumor characteristics, clinical factors as predictors of survival were analyzed using log-rank test and Cox regression model.


RESULTS
The median survival length was 39 months (range 1-138 months) with 154 (27.7%) alive and 403 (72.3%) dead at the end of follow-up period. This study demonstrated that a history of hypertension, ER/PR status, HER2 status, metastasis-free interval, metastatic location (including brain, bone and liver), and BMI at diagnosis with metastatic breast cancer were the most relevant prognostic factors for survival after metastatic disease diagnosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings of this study may form a foundation for the growing corpus of knowledge explaining the outcome differences in treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer, potentially helping to create tailored counseling and personalized treatment approaches for this vulnerable group.
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto Street, 714 Parran Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. suj11@pitt.edu
Su Yon
SY
Jung
Margaret
M
Rosenzweig
Susan M
SM
Sereika
Faina
F
Linkov
Adam
A
Brufsky
Joel L
JL
Weissfeld
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome