Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Oct;8(Suppl 5):S518-S552.
doi: 10.21037/tcr.2019.07.24.

Rare sites of breast cancer metastasis: a review

Rosa Di Micco  1   2 , Letizia Santurro  1 , Maria Luisa Gasparri  1 , Veronica Zuber  1 , Enrico Fiacco  1 , Guglielmo Gazzetta  1 , Chanel Elisha Smart  1 , Alice Valentini  1 , Oreste Davide Gentilini  1
Affiliations
Review

Rare sites of breast cancer metastasis: a review

Rosa Di Micco et al. Transl Cancer Res. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) metastasis accounts for the majority of deaths from BC. The rate of metastasis to uncommon sites is on the rise due to the more effective therapy prolonging survival and to the early detection on imaging. The evaluation of patient-reported symptoms is essential in detecting a recurrence as early as possible, which may impact survival. Hence, the knowledge of even the rare sites of BC metastasis is of paramount importance for the clinical interpretation of new symptoms in BC survivors. The term "unusual metastasis" defines a systemic failure with a frequency of ≤1% at each site and according to this unusual metastasis involve the central nervous system, secretory/endocrine organs and glands, internal organs and structures, and gynecological organs. The literature search was performed using the electronic database PubMed up to December 2018, with the following key words: {[rare(Title/Abstract)] OR [unusual(Title/Abstract)] OR [unconventional(Title/Abstract)]} AND {[metastases(Title/Abstract)] OR [metastasis(Title/Abstract)]} AND {[breast(Title/Abstract)]} AND {[cancer(Title/Abstract)] OR [tumor(Title/Abstract)] OR [tumour(Title/Abstract)] OR [neoplasm(Title/Abstract)]}. The search was limited to papers in English language. Of the 3,086 papers found, 757 were excluded as reporting animal models, 378 were not in English language, 1 was a duplicate of the same research, 1,414 did not report on BC metastases, 108 were previous review reviews on BC or tumour to tumour metastases; 428 papers were included in this review. Despite the improvements in BC management, most deaths from cancer result from metastases that are resistant to conventional therapies. In general, it is uncommon to find isolated rare metastases, the vast majority of these develops together with metastases in other sites, thus highlighting a worsening systemic disease. However, the early detection of even rare metastases represents the only chance to control the disease and prolong survival while waiting for the development of more effective systemic therapies.

Keywords: Breast cancer (BC); metastatic disease; rare metastasis; unusual site.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tcr.2019.07.24). The focused issue “Rare Tumors of the Breast” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of studies included in the review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2018;68:394-424. 10.3322/caac.21492 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Runowicz CD, Leach CR, Henry NL, et al. American Cancer Society/American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline. J Clin Oncol 2016;34:611-35. 10.1200/JCO.2015.64.3809 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rosselli Del Turco M, Palli D, Cariddi A, et al. Intensive diagnostic follow-up after treatment of primary breast cancer. A randomized trial. National Research Council Project on Breast Cancer follow-up. JAMA 1994;271:1593-7. 10.1001/jama.271.20.1593 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Palli D, Russo A, Saieva C, et al. Intensive vs clinical follow-up after treatment of primary breast cancer: 10-year update of a randomized trial. National Research Council Project on Breast Cancer Follow-up. JAMA 1999;281:1586. 10.1001/jama.281.17.1586 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gradishar WJ, Anderson BO, Balassanian R, et al. Breast Cancer, Version 4.2017, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2018;16:310-20. 10.6004/jnccn.2018.0012 - DOI - PubMed