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Complete remission in metastatic breast cancer: expecting the unexpected—results of a cross-sectional study

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A Letter to the Editor to this article was published on 16 February 2017

Abstract

Background

Complete response (CR) in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is rare. This study aims at analyzing the characteristics and outcome of MBC patients achieving CR.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional analysis of clinical data from a consecutive series of MBC patients admitted at the Division of Medical Oncology of Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy, achieving CR following treatment for systemic disease and with at least 2 years of follow-up.

Results

Seventy-six MBC patients with CR were identified during a calendar year. 47 patients (61.8%) achieved CR more than once, for a total of 123 cases. Median age at MBC diagnosis was 56 years (range 30–76). 52 patients (68.4%) presented with recurrent disease, 24 (31.6%) with de novo metastatic disease. The majority of patients (80.3%) had hormone receptor (HR) positive and 26 (34.2%) had HER2 overexpressing MBC. 54 patients (71.1%) had only one site of metastatic disease. 33 patients (43.4%) received a local approach as part of their treatment and 67 (54.5%) achieved CR during maintenance therapy. CRs were durable, as after a median follow-up of 8.3 years (interquartile range 5.8–11.0 years) 42 patients (55.3%) were alive with no evidence of disease.

Conclusions

Durable CRs can occur after systemic therapy alone or after combined systemic and local treatments. Most cases presented CR in the presence of limited disease spreading, not necessarily on first-line therapy. Our study highlights the crucial role of multidisciplinary approach to MBC and the benefit of maintenance treatment.

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Acknowledgements

Giulia Galli and Anna Tessari contributed equally to this work. This research was partially supported by PELOTONIA (AT, Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Division of Medical Oncology 1, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, via G. Venezian 1, 20133, Milan, Italy

      Giulia Galli, Giacomo Bregni, Filippo de Braud & Serena Di Cosimo

    2. Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University, 460 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA

      Anna Tessari

    3. Oncology Department, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via La Masa 19, 20156, Milan, Italy

      Luca Porcu

    4. Department of Pathology 1, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via G. Venezian 1, 20133, Milan, Italy

      Biagio Paolini & Maria Luisa Carcangiu

    5. Department of General Surgery 3, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via G. Venezian 1, 20133, Milan, Italy

      Massimiliano Gennaro

    6. Department of Radiation Oncology 1, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Via G. Venezian 1, 20133, Milan, Italy

      Maria Carmen De Santis & Laura Lozza

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    1. Giulia Galli
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    Correspondence to Giulia Galli.

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    G. Galli and A. Tessari contributed equally to this work.

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    Galli, G., Tessari, A., Porcu, L. et al. Complete remission in metastatic breast cancer: expecting the unexpected—results of a cross-sectional study. Breast Cancer 24, 635–641 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-017-0751-6

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-017-0751-6

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