Patients with recurrent node-positive breast cancer
develop distant metastasis.
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| Image: Breast Cancer Metastasis | InStyleHealth |
According to a new study, distant metastasis is
present in all patients with node-positive breast cancer (NPBC) at the time of
recurrence. Patients with oligometastasis (OM) have a shorter time to
recurrence but a longer overall survival than those with diffuse metastatic
(DM) disease (OS).
A team of investigators assessed the patterns and
timing of recurrence with respect to survival in NPBC patients at greater risk
for developing metastases. Patients and disease characteristics, recurrence
location, method of detection, and survival outcome were all collected in a
single-institution retrospective review of this population treated with
trimodality therapy.
Finally, the investigators identified factors related
with recurrence by doing univariate and multivariate analyses.
There were 94 patients with NPBC treated at a
safety-net hospital between 2008 and 2019. Twenty-one of them developed
recurrence and were divided into the OM (n=10) and DM (n=11) subgroups.
In OM, the median recurrence-free survival was 18
months, while in DM, it was 36 months. The median OS for OM was not reached,
but it was 57 months for DM. Over the course of 17 months, four patients with
OM progressed to diffuse disease, with a median survival of 57 months.
On initial detection, all patients with recurrence had
distant metastases, with bone (n=14) being the most common site. The majority
of these recurrences (n=13) were detected using computed tomography, with the
majority of the disease occurring in the thorax.
The researchers said, "This study highlights
improved surveillance imaging for timely detection of OM breast cancer that may
still be amenable to aggressive local salvage therapy to prevent progression to
diffuse disease."