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Patterns of metastasis in women with metachronous contralateral breast cancer
V Vichapat1, H Garmo, L Holmberg
1King's College London, School of Medicine, Division of Cancer Studies, Cancer Epidemiology Group, Research Oncology, 3rd Floor, Bermondsey Wing London, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK. voralak.vichapat@kcl.ac.uk
Background:
The understanding of metastatic patterns after metachronous contralateral breast cancer (CBC) may help determine the biological nature of CBC.
Methods:
A cohort of 8478 women with breast cancer treated at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust between 1975 and 2006 were studied. Organ-specific 5-year cumulative incidence and incidence rate ratios were assessed for women diagnosed with unilateral breast cancer (UBC), CBC within 5 years and CBC more than 5 years of the initial diagnosis.
Results:
Women diagnosed with CBC within 5 years had a higher incidence of metastases in all organs compared with UBC. Women with a short interval time to CBC developed metastasis more rapidly and were more likely to develop visceral and distant cutaneous metastases compared with bone metastasis.
Conclusion:
These findings explain poor prognosis of women with early occurring CBC and suggest that some of these CBCs are indicators of aggressive and/or systemic disease.
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