title: Prognostic factors and clinical features in patients with leptominengeal metastases from breast cancer: a single center experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Meningeal carcinomatosis (MC) is a rare complication in breast cancer (BC) with no efficient modality of treatment yet found; overall survival (OS) generally did not exceed six months. We reviewed the experience of the University of Florence focusing on prognostic factors and MC survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 33 patients treated for MC from BC between 2002 and 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean OS from MC diagnosis was 4.9 months. At survival analysis clinical stage emerged as the only statistical significant parameter (P = 0.009) among BC diagnosis features. Among MC diagnosis parameters, more than three metastases at diagnosis (P = 0.037), multimodality treatment (P = 0.014) and poor performance status (P = 0.003) reached the statistical significance. At multivariate analysis only performance status at MC diagnosis maintained the statistical significance (P = 0.0047; HR: 3.34; CI 95% 1.45-7.73).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our experience confirms that performance status is probably the most important prognostic factor in these patients. Multimodality approach is probably the best option.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation-Oncology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. icro.meattini@unifi.it
authors.forename: Icro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meattini
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Livi
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saieva
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Franceschini
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marrazzo
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Greto
authors.forename: Vieri
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Scotti
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scoccianti
authors.forename: Fabiola
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paiar
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bordi
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nori
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orzalesi
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Giampaolo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Biti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D055756:Meningeal Carcinomatosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000556:secondary*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis