Multifactorial central nervous system recurrence susceptibility in patients with HER2‐positive breast cancer

Abstract

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first population-based cancer registry study analyzing factors associated with CNS recurrence in a general population of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with known HER2 status. The data from the current study provide evidence that patients with HER2-positive breast cancer have a significantly higher incidence of CNS metastasis after treatment with trastuzumab. Improvements in systemic control and overall survival associated with trastuzumab-based therapy may lead to an "unmasking" of CNS disease recurrence that would otherwise remain clinically silent before a patient's death.