Current Status of Interventional Oncology for Breast Cancer Liver Metastases: Articles From the Official Show Daily for Synergy 2015

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the second most frequent cause of cancer deaths in women after lung cancer in developed nations.1 Half of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) will be diagnosed with liver metastases over their course of treatment, and postmortem studies have demonstrated the liver to be a common site of metastatic disease (62% to 72%).2,3 The purpose of this review is to highlight specific roles for interventional oncology and liver-directed therapy in treating patients with breast cancer liver metastases based on three assertions:

1. Breast cancer liver metastases represent a unique clinical challenge that can result in abdominal pain, impaired liver function, and limited systemic chemotherapy options.
2. Metastatic breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and there are subgroups of patients who may derive significant benefit from locoregional therapy.
3. Interventional oncology treatments validated for other hepatic malignancies have low rates of failure and can potentially be applied in conjunction with systemic chemotherapy.