Development of CNS metastases and survival in patients with inflammatory breast cancer.

Background: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is associated with a poor prognosis and high risk of central nervous system (CNS) metastases.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed stage III-IBC patients compared with noninflammatory invasive ductal carcinoma (NI-IDC) patients treated between January 1, 1984, and December 31, 2011, who began primary treatment within 1 year of diagnosis and had been followed up for at least 1 year before the development of CNS metastasis or death. Cumulative CNS metastasis incidence and post-CNS metastasis overall survival (OS) estimates were computed.