ISSN:
1432-1440
Keywords:
Breast cancer
;
Lung metastases
;
Clinical course
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary The clinical course of 50 breast cancer patients whose first metastases were found in the lungs was investigated. 18 months after the start of primary treatment 50% of the patients had developed pulmonary metastases (range: 0–81 months). In 23% of patients a solitary, and in 68% more than one, lung metastases were detected. After a median time of 4 months, in 56% of patients the disease had spread to further organs with bone (25%) and liver (17%) being the most frequent sites. First line management of lung metastases employed surgery, endocrine treatment, chemotherapy or a combination of these modalities. In 24% of patients a complete response was achieved, and in 11% a partial response, with an overall response rate of 35%. Median survival from detection of lung metastases was 13 months (range 4–123+). Patients with only a solitary lung metastasis survived for a median of 11.5 months as compared to 10.5 months for patients with more than one pulmonary metastases. Patients with a disease-free interval of more than 18 months survived significantly longer than patients with a disease-free survival of 18 months or less.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01726581
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