Ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences can seed distant metastases
Posted on 14 Apr, 2008

Ipsilateral breast tumors (IBTs) that arise in breast cancer patients following conservative surgery for a primary carcinoma are capable of seeding distant metastases, a US study has found.

(International Journal of Clinical Oncology *Biology, advance online, April 14, 2008)

The researchers took malignant cells from 18 breast cancer patients who had experienced local failure and subsequent distant metastases and found molecular evidence directly linking IBTs with metastatic sites.

Frank Vicini and colleagues from the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, say their findings underscore the "importance of local tumor control in the overall treatment of breast cancer patients."