Metastatic breast cancer: Who benefits from surgery?

Abstract Background We sought to identify characteristics of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients who may benefit most from primary tumor resection. Methods Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) was used to categorize non-surgical patients with de novo MBC in the NCDB (2010–2015) into 3 groups (I/II/III) based on 3-year overall survival (OS). After bootstrapping (BS), group-level profiles were applied, and the association of surgery with OS was estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results All patients benefitted from surgery (median OS, surgery vs no surgery): 72.7 vs 42.9 months, 47.3 vs 30.4 months, 23.8 vs 14.4 months (all p Conclusion Prognostic groups may inform the degree of benefit from surgery, with the greatest benefit seen in those with the most favorable survival.