Ongoing Remission Nineteen Years after High-dose Chemotherapy for Oligometastatic Breast Cancer; What Can We Learn from this Patient?

Tessa G Steenbruggen; Sabine C Linn; Sjoerd Rodenhuis; Gabe S Sonke

doi:10.7759/cureus.433

Ongoing Remission Nineteen Years after High-dose Chemotherapy for Oligometastatic Breast Cancer; What Can We Learn from this Patient?

Cureus. 2015 Dec 24;7(12):e433. doi: 10.7759/cureus.433.

Authors

Tessa G Steenbruggen¹, Sabine C Linn², Sjoerd Rodenhuis¹, Gabe S Sonke¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
² Department of Medical Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands ; Department of Molecular Biology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Metastatic breast cancer is generally considered incurable. However, some patients show an exceptional response to treatment and enjoy long-term survival in good health. Here, we present a remarkable example of a patient who is still in remission 19 years after high-dose chemotherapy and locoregional treatment for limited oligometastatic breast cancer. We will outline our rationale for this treatment to explain her excellent response and suggest strategies to select larger patient groups that could similarly benefit from existing treatment approaches.

Keywords: brca; breast cancer; high-dose chemotherapy; medical oncology; oligometastatic.

Publication types

Case Reports

Grants and funding

This study in which the patient participated was supported in part by a grant from the Schumacher-Kramer Foundation and by NKI 97–1439 of the Dutch Cancer Society.