BREAST-CANCER ASSOCIATED BRACHIAL PLEXOPATHY - STILL A DIAGNOSTIC ANDTREATMENT CHALLENGE

Brachial plexopathy (BP) in breast cancer patients is a rare event, at tributed mainly to radiation damage or tumor infiltration of the plexu s. Differentiation between these etiologies is a diagnostic challenge. We have studied retrospectively eight female patients with breast can cer who developed a clinical syndrome of brachial plexopathy following the treatment of the primary disease, out of more than 900 during the last 10 years. None of the available ancillary tests such as plain fi lms, CT or MRI studies, EMG or tumor markers, provided reliable data r egarding the cause of the plexopathy. Biopsy, on the other hand, was n ot always feasible. In our series, all the patients who developed BP d id not have any blood-borne metastases before developing the syndrome. In 3 of the patients BP was the first sign of recurrence. In the othe r 5, only local or locoregional relapse preceded. In 7 of the 8 patien ts the left side was affected. Treatment should be tailored in each ca se according to course of the disease. The optimal treatment has not y et been defined.