Evaluation of peritumoral edema in breast cancer patients with brain metastasis

In breast cancer, survival is increasing daily with the developments in medical oncology. Nonetheless, the course and treatment of brain metastases in breast cancer, as well as edema secondary to brain metastases, remains an important issue that requires a current approach and continual updating of the research. The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of metastases and edema due to metastasis in breast cancer patients with brain metastases. The study included 69 female brain metastases followed up in Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology between 2007 and 2019. In the study; between temporal lobe involvement and edema (p=0.010), between presence of shift at diagnosis and total metastasis volume (p=0.027), between HER2 positivity and affected hemisphere (p=0.027) statistically significant difference was found. Among the patients with brain metastases, the median survival time of the HER2 positive patient group was found to be statistically significant longer than the group with triple negative breast cancer. The median survival time of patients with brain metastases who developed edema was shorter than those who did not develop edema, but there was no statistically significant difference. Based on the results of our study, the subtype of breast cancer in the group of patients with brain metastases is one of the important factors in terms of median survival. Furthermore, although the development of edema cannot be statistically significant, it is important in terms of shorter median survival. It is important to determine the location of metastasis and edema with imaging methods such as MRI. This topic can be further clarified with prospective studies in order to reveal the processes that affect the formation of edema in patients.