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Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology 12/2007

01-12-2007 | Breast Oncology

Surgical Resection of the Primary Tumor is Associated with Increased Long-Term Survival in Patients with Stage IV Breast Cancer after Controlling for Site of Metastasis

Authors: Ryan C. Fields, MD, Donna B. Jeffe, PhD, Kathryn Trinkaus, PhD, Qin Zhang, MD, MPE, Carey Arthur, BS, Rebecca Aft, MD, PhD, Jill R. Dietz, MD, Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, William E. Gillanders, MD, Julie A. Margenthaler, MD

Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Issue 12/2007

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Abstract

Background

The benefit of surgical resection in patients presenting with metastatic breast cancer is not established. We hypothesized that surgical excision of primary tumors in patients with stage IV breast cancer would be associated with increased survival.

Methods

Chart review identified 409 patients with stage IV breast cancer treated from 1996 to 2005; 187 received surgical excision of their primary tumor and 222 did not. One hundred and two patients had bone-only metastases, 281 had metastases to other organs ± bone, and 26 had no metastases recorded. Patient characteristics were compared between groups using the chi-squared test. Cox regression models were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHR). The log-rank test compared the differences in survival between patients who did or did not undergo surgical resection.

Results

Mean age at diagnosis of all 409 patients was 57.8 ± 15.0 years. After controlling for age, comorbidity, tumor grade, histology, and sites of metastasis, patients who underwent surgical resection had longer median survival when compared with patients who did not undergo surgical resection (31.9 vs. 15.4 months, p < 0.0001; aHR 0.53 [95% CI 0.42-0.67]).

Conclusions

Surgical excision of the primary breast tumor was associated with significantly longer survival in this cohort of stage IV breast cancer patients, even after controlling for other factors associated with survival. Randomized clinical trials are needed to validate these findings.
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Metadata
Title
Surgical Resection of the Primary Tumor is Associated with Increased Long-Term Survival in Patients with Stage IV Breast Cancer after Controlling for Site of Metastasis
Authors
Ryan C. Fields, MD
Donna B. Jeffe, PhD
Kathryn Trinkaus, PhD
Qin Zhang, MD, MPE
Carey Arthur, BS
Rebecca Aft, MD, PhD
Jill R. Dietz, MD
Timothy J. Eberlein, MD
William E. Gillanders, MD
Julie A. Margenthaler, MD
Publication date
01-12-2007
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Annals of Surgical Oncology / Issue 12/2007
Print ISSN: 1068-9265
Electronic ISSN: 1534-4681
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-007-9527-0

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