Clinical study on the metastasis to the eyes from breast cancer

Abstract

In our hospital, 24 patients who underwent surgery for breast cancer during 1980 to 2001 were diagnosed with metastasis to the eye. Metastasis to the choroid was found most frequently, making the choroid the most common site of metastasis. A few patients had metastasis in the orbit. Decreased visual acuity and tunnel vision were frequently found in patients who had metastasis to the choroid, and ocular floaters and blurred vision were also found in a few patients. Patients with metastasis to the orbit showed diplopia caused by ocular dyskinesia and eyelid swelling. The mean postoperative period until the diagnosis with metastasis to the eye was 3 years and 2 months, with most cases diagnosed between 20 and 40 months postoperatively, a relatively long period. We performed radiotherapy in 21 of the 24 patients, and more than half of the patients showed improvement. The mean survival period after diagnosis with metastasis to the eye was 10 months, and most of them already had recurrence to other organs such as the bones or lungs. Examination with consideration of metastasis to the eyes is required to improve the quality of life of cancer patients.