The clinical course of lung metastases from breast cancer

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.