Temporal evolution of breast cancer brain metastases treatments and outcomes
Brain metastases (BMs) are a common complication of advanced breast cancer (BC), and their management has significantly evolved. We evaluated the clinical impact of these changes dividing patients diagnosed with BCBMs at three Institutions according to year of BMs diagnosis: 2000-2007 (group A), 2008-2014 (group B) and 2015-2022 (group C). Stereotactic radiotherapy increased (p < 0.001), and WBRT decreased (p = 0.010) over time. Among HER2+ BC patients, more received anti-HER2 therapy after BM diagnosis in recent years (p < 0.011). Overall survival (OS) did not improve in the entire cohort (p = 0.260); however, OS improved in patients with HR-/HER2+ BC (median OS 8.7, 10.1, 23.7 months in group A, B, C, respectively; p = 0.002). HER2-positivity, not prognostic in group A, became prognostic in group C (p < 0.001). While therapy for patients with BCBMs significantly changed over two decades, an OS improvement was observed only in HR-/HER2+ patients, potentially due to increased availability of anti-HER2 therapies with intracranial activity.
Authors
- Amélie Darlix (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-1709)
- Federica Miglietta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6203-874X)
- Fabio Girardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7094-7986)
- Grazia Maria Vernaci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4401-7579)
- Christian Zurlo
- Alessandro Parisi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4629-7762)
- Jean-Marc Ferrero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0069-3743)
- Valentina Guarneri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2375-8397)
- Séverine Guiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4901-6295)
- Filippo Zanghi
- Vittoria Aldegheri
- Caroline Bailleux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4188-3367)
- William Jacot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7834-061X)
- Maria Cristina Guarascio
- Michele Bottosso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8098-1819)
- Carlo Alberto Giorgi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5406-0357)
- Gaia Griguolo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8782-4509)
- Maria Vittoria Dieci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9130-8611)
- Anna Chiara Cattelan
- Cristina Falci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4595-1937)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Inserm (FR)
- Istituto Oncologico Veneto (IT)
- Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IT)
- Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Breast Cancer
- Published
- 2025-02-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-025-00735-w
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Brain Metastases and Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.07
Funders
- Ministero della Salute
- Università degli Studi di Padova
- Istituto Oncologico Veneto