Patients with breast cancer (BC) with chest wall recurrence have better overall survival (OS) with surgical reduction, according to a study published in Gland Surgery.
In this retrospective review, researchers assessed 198 patients (median age, 48) with initial site of metastatic recurrence in the chest wall. They evaluated for clinicopathological data, including age at diagnosis, disease stage, and treatment. OS was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used to assess statistical significance.
The investigators observed that the chest wall was the only site of cancer recurrence in approximately 70% of patients, while around 30% of patients had recurrence in other sites. According to the results, average OS was markedly longer in patients who had chest wall disease reduction than in those patients who did not (194.2 months vs 102.7 months). The results on multivariate analysis showed surgical reduction is an independent factor of OS, and BC patients with chest wall recurrence can benefit from it, the authors found.
Reference: Zhu A, Yun Z, You M, et al. Surgical reduction in chest wall disease to prolong survival in breast cancer patients: a retrospective study. Gland Surg. 2022;11(6):1015-1025. doi:10.21037/gs-22-246
