[Effective systemic palliative chemotherapy for intracranial metastases of breast cancer]

The authors present the history of two patients. The first patient, a 69-year-old woman was diagnosed with locally invasive triple negative breast cancer with pulmonary and cerebral metastases. Complete radiological remission of the clinically asymptomatic cerebral metastases was detected under systemic chemotherapy with carboplatin-docetaxel (75 mg/m²). Later, the patient received whole brain radiotherapy and a second line of chemotherapy. The overall survival was 20 months from the diagnosis of cerebral metastases with conservation of partial autonomy. The second patient, a 57-year-old woman was diagnosed as having hormone sensitive lobular breast cancer with leptomeningeal, lymphonodular and multiple osseal metastases. Before the appearance of the lymphonodular metastasis the patient received intrathecal methotrexate chemotherapy for the leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. Her neurological symptoms completely disappeared. At the onset of the lymphonodular metastasis systemic chemotherapy with ifosfamide (1000 mg/m², D1-3) - etoposide (100 mg/m², D1-3) was started allowing complete clinical remission of the lymphadenomegaly and stability of the asymptomatic neurological status. The overall survival was 13 months from the diagnosis of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis with conservation of autonomy. The two cases support potential efficacy of systemic chemotherapy for intracranial metastases of breast cancer. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(45), 1809-1813.