Carcinomatous meningitis of breast origin

Carcinomatous meningitis (CM) is a rare and late event complicating around 5 to 8% of breast cancers. At this stage median survival drops dramatically rarely exceeding 6 months. These disappointing results have prompted some authors to investigate factors that may influence patient prognosis in an attempt to stratify prognosis and adapt therapeutic protocols. In this study we investigated the prognostic impact of certain clinico-pathological and therapeutic factors in a retrospective study of 20 patients with CD of breast origin over a 16-year period between 2005 and 2021. Death attributable to the disease was noted in 19 cases with an estimated median overall survival of 5 months. The results of our study confirm the positive prognostic value of a high performance status at the time of diagnosis of CD and the administration of adequate systemic treatment. The negative prognostic impact of the presence of brain metastases and the use of a single therapeutic modality was verified in uni and multivariate analysis.