10631 Background: HER-2 status of the primary breast carcinoma in the subgroup of patients who relapsed after many years is not well known. The aim of this paper is to determine the HER-2 status of the primary breast cancer in patients with late relapse, defined as local recurrence, distant metastases or carcinoma in the contralateral breast, at least five years after the initial diagnosis Methods: During six month period (June-November 2005) 1256 patients were diagnosed with primary or relapsed breast cancer at the IORS. HER-2 (HercepTest, DAKO) status was determined on the archived pathological specimens of patients with late relapse. Results: One hundred eleven patients (111/1256; 8,8%) were diagnosed with late relapse. At the time of the initial diagnose, majority of patients have been treated for early breast carcinoma. Median age at the initial diagnose was 50 years (33–74). Initial tumor characteristic were: ductal carcinoma 49%; lobular carcinoma 41%;cancer mastitis 6,5%;not reported 3,5%; T1 34%; T2 52%; T3 4,5%; T4 6%;unknown 3,5%; Nodal status: positive 73,5%; negative 23%;not reported 3,5% Steroid receptor status: ER and/or PR positive 59%; both negative 14%; unknown 27%. Median time to relapse is 7 years, (range 5–29), the most frequent first relapse sites were: local recurrence (22%); carcinoma of the contralateral breast (18%); bone metastases (18%). Archived pathological specimens are identified for 63/111 (56,7%) patients and HER-2 status of the those primary breast carcinoma is: 0+ 36,5%; 1+ 34,9%; 2+ 9,5%; 3+ 14,2%; Thirty four patients (30,6%) had disease free interval 10 or more years, and HER-2 3+ in this subgroup is 17,6% (6/34). Conclusions: Long disease free interval in breast cancer patients is usually explained by initial more favorable cancer characteristics. Still, a significant percentage (14,2%) of our patients with median time to relapse of 7 years, initially had breast cancers with HER-2 3+. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Pulmonary metastasis from breast cancer. A case report with a 21-year-disease-free interval.
