Objective
To analyze the clinical and pathological characteristics and the sites of recurrent and metastatic breast cancer after initial treatment, and subsequently guide the precise management and follow-up treatment for these patients.
Methods
The clinical data of 366 patients with metastatic breast cancer were retrospectively analyzed, the most common recurrent and metastatic sites were descriptively analyzed, and the sites of primary relapse and metastasis were summarized.
Results
Of the 79 luminal-A cases, primary solitary metastasis was found most common in lymph node (39.0%) and bone (24.4%); of the 160 luminal-B cases, primary solitary metastasis was most common in lymph node (39.4%), bone (20.2%) and thoracic wall (18.3%); of the 60 Her-2 rich cases, primary solitary metastasis was most common in lymph node (47.1%) and bone (23.5%); of the 67 triple-negative cases, primary solitary metastasis occurred mostly in lymph node (28.0%) and lung (24.0%).
Conclusions
The most common recurrent and metastatic sites for breast cancer patients were lymph nodes, bone, liver, lung and brain and differs in different breast cancer subtypes. For luminal-A and luminal-B breast cancers, lymph node and bone were the most common recurrent and metastasis sites. In triple negative breast cancer patients, lung is also one of the most common sites of metastasis. Therefore, patients' follow-up check after adjuvant treatment should not only include monitoring lymph node status, but also check-up for lung, bone and brain, which facilitate early diagnosis of relapse and metastases.
Key words:
Recurrent and metastasis of breast cancer; Sites of metastases; Follow-up