Outcome and prognostic value of treatment for brain metastases and the primary tumor in patients with breast cancer brain metastases

Objective: The aim of this single-institution cohort study is to describe clinical characteristics of patients with breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM), to investigate survival after diagnosis of brain metastases (BM), and to assess the aggressive treatments to BCBM. Patients and Methods: We identified 134 consecutive patients diagnosed with operable breast cancer and then who developed BM at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from 2000 to 2015, and analyzed the therapeutic methods for primary breast cancer and BM to evaluate whether they were associated with longer survival after the development of BM. The median age at breast cancer diagnosis was 47 years (range 21 73 years). Results: The median survival after BM was 16.2 months (range 12.1-20.3 months), and the survival rates were 62% and 37% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that craniotomy (p = 0.034) and targeted therapy (p < 0.001) for BCBM were positively correlated with survival after diagnosis of BM; radiotherapy (p = 0.024) after surgery for primary breast cancer was beneficial to BM. Conclusions: Surgical resection and targeted therapy are effective treatment for BCBM. Radiotherapy after surgery for the management of primary breast cancer is necessary in patients with brain progression later.