Central nervous system metastases in women with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer after treatment with trastuzumab

Abstract

Background: Historically, central nervous system (CNS) metastases have been reported to occur in 10-16% of women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) with a median survival of less than 1 year after diagnosis of CNS disease. A higher rate of CNS metastases has been described in women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) over-expressing HER-2 who receive trastuzumab therapy. Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of and potential risk factors for CNS metastases in these women. Our a priori hypotheses were that in MBC patients treated with trastuzumab, CNS metastases occurred (i) more frequently than historical controls, and (ii) in women with controlled systemic disease. Metho..