Metastatic breast cancer

Metastatic breast cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality that needs to be understood and conquered. Although fewer than 10% of patients with breast cancer initially present with the metastatic disease, it will eventually develop in a substantial proportion of them [1]. Therapy for metastatic breast cancer remains palliative. The average survival time after the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer is 24 months, although it varies widely according to the metastatic site, biological characteristics, patient condition and treatment [1]. The median survival time traditionally has been lower for patients with visceral disease (6-13 months) compared with those with bone-only disease (18-30 months). There has been recent epidemiological data to suggest improvement in breast cancer mortality in the past 15 years in the United Kingdom and the United States [2]. One of the reports demonstrated that after adjustment of several factors, similar cohort of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in late 1990s compared with early 1990s, had better survival by 30%.