[Liver metastases from breast cancer--clinical features and treatment]

Between 1986 and 1997, we treated 55 patients with liver metastases of breast cancer. In this study, the clinical features and effects of systemic or intra-arterial chemo-endocrine therapy for these patients were reviewed to clarify the characteristics of liver metastases and establish the optimum therapy. One of the 55 patients underwent hepatectomy, 25 were treated with systemic chemo-endocrine therapy [A] and 10 were treated with one-shot intra-arterial chemoembolization through hepatic artery [B] while the other 19 were given hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy [C]. The response rate in the group [B] and [C] were better than in group [A], whereas there was no significant difference in survival time among the three groups. There were 14 cases (25.5%) among them showing metastasis in the thoracico-abdominal lymph nodes. In these patients, liver metastases seemed to have occurred through the lymphogenic route. In the intra-arterial chemotherapy ([B] + [C]) group, the survival time of patients with metastasis in the thoracico-abdominal lymph nodes was significantly shorter than that of patients without metastasis (p = 0.01). This study suggests that intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with MPA should be effective and useful for advanced breast cancer patients with liver metastases. And for lymphogenic liver metastases, it should be necessary to be combined with more intensive systemic chemo-endocrine therapy.