Open AccessMetastatic breast cancer patients with lung or liver metastases should be distinguished before being treated with fulvestrant
Author(s) -
He Min,
Li JunJie,
Zuo WenJia,
Ji Lei,
Jiang YiZhou,
Hu XiChun,
Wang ZhongHua,
Shao ZhiMing
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
cancer medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 2045-7634
DOI - 10.1002/cam4.2453
Subject(s) - medicine , lung , fulvestrant , hazard ratio , metastasis , gastroenterology , metastatic breast cancer , lung cancer , oncology , breast cancer , cancer , estrogen receptor , confidence interval
Background Endocrine therapy is the preferred treatment for patients with hormone receptor ‐positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC). While visceral metastasis is a negative prognostic factor, few studies have distinguished between the prognoses of patients with metastases at different visceral sites. Patients and methods In total, 398 patients receiving fulvestrant 500 mg at a single center over a 6‐year period were analyzed. Logistic regression models were used to identify the prognostic factors associated with progression‐free survival (PFS). Kaplan‐Meier analysis was used to compare the PFS of patients with lung and liver metastases. Results Baseline visceral metastases were present in 233 patients, including 138 with lung w/o liver metastases (lung metastases without liver involvement), 51 with liver w/o lung metastases (liver metastases without lung involvement) and 41 with lung and liver metastases. The median PFS was 6.8 months (5.6 and 9.2 months for visceral and nonvisceral metastases, respectively, P = .028). PFS was longer in patients with lung w/o liver metastases than in those with liver w/o lung metastases or lung and liver metastases (9.6, 3.7 and 3.2 months, respectively, P < .001; liver w/o lung vs. lung w/o liver hazard ratio (HR) 1.70; lung and liver vs. lung w/o liver HR 2.85). Patients with liver metastases experienced significantly worse PFS than those without liver involvement (3.7 vs. 9.2 months, P < .001). PFS benefits were observed in patients with longer disease‐free intervals, no liver metastases, and no previous chemotherapy. Conclusion Fulvestrant treatment benefited patients with lung w/o liver or nonvisceral metastases. When treating hormone receptor‐positive/HER2‐negative MBC patients with endocrine therapy, it is important to differentiate patients with lung metastases from those with liver metastases.