Hepatic steatosis is associated with higher incidence of liver metastasis in patients with metastatic breast cancer; an observational clinical study.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between hepatic steatosis (HS) (at the time of diagnosis) and hepatic metastasis (at the time of diagnosis and follow-up) in metastatic breast cancer (BC) patients by using computed tomography (CT). METHODS: A total of 107 metastatic BC patients who had an abdominal CT were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patients without HS (N=79) were regarded as the control group and those with HS constituted the HS study group (N-28). RESULTS: Hepatic metastases at diagnosis and during follow-up were more common in patients with HS (p=0.018 and p=0.041, respectively) and in the premenopausal group (p<0.001 and p=0.004, respectively), whereas they were similar in patients with and without HS in the postmenopausal group (p=0.655 and p=0.656, respectively). Overall survival rates were similar in patients with and without HS (p=0.606). CONCLUSION: Hepatic metastases at diagnosis and during follow-up were more frequent in patients with HS, especially in premenopausal patients. Survival was similar in both groups.