[Successful chemotherapy in postoperative brain metastasis of breast cancer using ACNU--two case reports]

Two cases of postoperative brain metastasis of breast cancer were evaluated after chemotherapy using ACNU. Case 1: A 47-year-old female, who had undergone right standard radical mastectomy in 1979 for breast cancer (T2 N0M0, papillo-tubular carcinoma), was treated with ADM, TAM, and 60Co irradiation for bone metastasis in 1983. In 1984, she complained of loss of consciousness and paralysis of the extremities due to brain metastasis. After chemotherapy using ACNU (100 mg X 3), brain metastasis could not be detected on CT. She remained asymptomatic for more than 9 months without recurrence after therapy. Case 2: A 46-year-old-female, who had undergone left standard radical mastectomy in 1980 for breast cancer (T1 N1 M0, medullar tubular carcinoma), complained of headache and vertigo accompanying a hard tumor in the scalp. Chest X-ray and CT demonstrated right lung metastasis and left cerebellar metastasis. After combination chemotherapy using ACNU (100 mg) + MMC (4 mg) i.v. and FT (600 mg/day) p.o., symptoms and tumor on CT disappeared for 10 months after therapy. However, the patient died of aggravation of angina pectoris and D.M. from which she had been suffering for several years previously. These two cases correspond to complete response (CR) according to the response criteria proposed by Koyama-Saitoh.