PATTERN OF POST-TREATMENT METASTATIC SUBSITES IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN NIGERIA.

Aims/Purpose: The management of breast carcinoma in Nigeria still poses a big challenge as a large proportion of the patients present at an advanced stage. This study aims to determine the pattern of post-treatment metastasis in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria Methods: A five-year retrospective review of records of breast cancer patients seen between January 2013 and December 2017 was conducted. Relevant information was extracted and analyzed using statistical package for social science software 21. Results: A total of 292 patients with carcinoma of the breast were seen at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Of these, 113(38.7%) developed metastases post-treatment with taxane-based therapy within 2 years of follow-up. Most of the patients were aged 30-59years (77.4%). Majority had moderately differentiated carcinoma (62.8%). The pattern of metastases was commonly to the loco-regional sites (39.5%), bone (16.9%), lungs (10.6%), brain (6.3%) and liver (4.4%) while multiple sites were (15.0%) and of these, 51.3% developed the metastasis within 10 – 12months. Within a period of 2 years, 60.2% had stable disease. Conclusion: Our study showed loco-regional site as the commonest metastatic sub-site in this region with bony metastasis being the commonest distant spread. These occur commonly within the first one year post-treatment. Careful evaluation of these sites during follow-up is advocated to ensure early detection and appropriate management. This study also showed a significant survival of patients at 2 years following taxane-based therapy. We therefore advocate that taxane-based therapy should be the main stay of patients with breast cancer.