The Impact Of Primary Tumor Resection On The Survival Of Patients With Stage Iv Breast Cancer According To Molecular Subtype.

Purpose: The main treatment for stage IV breast cancer is currently systemic therapy. Surgical resection of the primary tumor is usually done for treating the tumor-related complications. Recent studies have suggested that surgery may improve the long-term survival of stage IV breast cancer patients. We evaluated the impact of the primary surgical resection site on the survival of stage IV breast cancer patients according to molecular subtype using nationwide Korean breast cancer registry data. Methods: We analyzed the records of the stage IV breast cancer patients from Korean Central Cancer Registry (KCCR) between 1999 and 2008. We used clinical assays to distinguish luminal A (HR+/HER2−, n=290), luminal B (HR+/HER2+, n=154), Basal-like (HR-/HER2−, n=107) and HER2 (HR-/HER2+, n=145). The clinical and tumor characteristics, the type of treatments and the overall survival were compared between the surgically versus nonsurgically treated patients according to molecular subtype. Results: Of the 1091 identified patients, 719 (65.9%) received surgical excision of their primary tumor and 372 (34.1%) did not. The mean survival was 86 months versus 43 months for the surgically treated patients vs. the patients without surgery, respectively (p Conclusion: Surgical resection of the primary tumor in stage IV breast cancer patients was independently associated with improved survival only in luminal A subtype. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-23-01.