Approachment to the Brain Metastasis without Extracranial Metastasis of the HER2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancy that metastases to brain with the risk of 10-16%. Brain metastasis has been reported to be more common among younger women with tumors larger diameter and higher grade, hormone negative and HER2 positive ones. We reviewed inhere treatment of patients with brain metastasis without extracranial metastasis of HER-2 positive breast cancer. Patients and Method: Totally 470 HER2 positive breast cancer patients were evacuated and treatment and clinicopathological factors of 20 patients with brain progression without extracranial metastasis were revised retrospectively. Overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS)and related factors were analysed with univariate analysis. Results: Median survival could not to be reached but, 3 years survival rate was 77% and median PFS was 16.1 months. Brain metastasis were treated with surgery followed with radiotherapy among 9 patients (45%) and only with radiotherapy other 11 (55%) patients. While nearly half of the patients received trastuzumab based therapy after local treatment, lapatinib-capecitabine were given to 7 (35%) and TDM-1 to 4 (20%) patients. There is no significant relation with anti-HER2 therapy in respect to OS or PFS. Conclusion: Although anti-HER2 therapy has known to be improve prognosis of HER-2 positive breast cancer with brain metastasis, there is no consensus which therapy is better. Treatment option can be based adverse effect, patient performance or cost-effectiveness until in the future prospectively designed study related the anti-HER2 therapy after local brain therapy will be come up.