Carmustine and methotrexate in combination after whole brain radiation therapy in breast cancer patients presenting with brain metastases: a retrospective study

Table 1 Patient characteristics at the time of BM diagnosis

Patient characteristics	Nb patients		%
Age at BM diagnosis (years)
Median, range		54 (28-79)
Time between initial diagnosis and BM diagnosis (months)
Median, range		36.8 (0-180)
Histology
Lobular	6		12
Ductal	43		86
Other	1		2
SBR grade
I	0		0
II	23		46.9
III	26		53.1
Not known	1
Inflammatory breast cancer
Yes	11		22.9
No	37		77.1
Not known	2
Hormone receptor status
ER-/PR-	19		40
ER-/PR+	1		4
ER+/PR-	18		40
ER+/PR+	7		16
Not known	5
HER-2 status
0	14		38.9
1⁺	2		5.6
2⁺	3		8.3
3⁺	17		47.2
Not known	14
Number of previous chemotherapy lines
Median, range		2 (0-5)
ECOG Performance status
0	19		38
1	13		26
2	14		28
3	4		8
Weight loss (%)
Median, range		0 (0-15)
RPA score
1	2		4
2	44		88
3	4		8
BS-BM score
0	1		2
1	21		42
2	26		52
3	2		4
Local relapse
Yes	11		22.4
No	38		77.6
Extra cerebral metastases
Yes	47		94
No	3		6
Extra cerebral metastases (sites)
Bone	38		76
Liver	23		46
Lung	21		42
Lymph nodes	13		26
Others	9		18

Abbreviations used: BM: Brain metastases; RPA Score: Recursive partitioning analysis score; SBR Grade: Scarf Bloom and Richardson Grade; ER: Estrogen Receptor; PR: Progesterone Receptor; BS-BM: Basic Score for Brain Metastases.

ISSN: 1471-2407