Objective: To explore the prognosis of occult breast cancer.
Methods: From January 1978 to December 2008, retrospective analyses were conducted for 205 female patients with axillary lymph node metastasis from an unknown primary source.
Results: During a median follow-up time of 61 (4-158) months, the 5 and 10-year rates of disease-free survival (DFS) were 63.5% and 39.8% respectively. The median overall survival (OS) was 10 years. And the 5 and 10-year OS were 79.8% and 49.4% respectively. Significant differences existed in medical history, family history, estrogen receptor (ER), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2), infiltration of soft tissue, surgical option, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy with DFS of occult breast cancer (P < 0.05). The most important determinants of DFS and OS were ER, infiltration of soft tissue and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Radical mastectomy should be performed instead of modified radical mastectomy to improve the patient quality of life.