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Objective: Bone is the most common site of metastasis in breast cancer. Prognostic factors for predicting bone metastases in breast cancer are controversial yet. In this study, we investigated clinical factors associated with secondary bone metastasis of breast cancer. Methods: In total, 1690 patients with breast cancer recorded between 2002 and 2012 in Motamed Cancer Institute, Tehran, Iran entered in the retrospective study. We studied age, menopausal status, histologic type, tumor size, number of cancerous axillary lymph nodes, serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), carcinogenicity antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA)-153, and hemoglobin (HB) in 2 groups with bone metastases (n = 123) and without it, respectively. We applied logistic regression to identify bone metastasis prognostic factors in breast cancer patients and calculated the cut-off value, sensitivity, and characteristics of independent prognostic factors using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Menopause, larger tumor size, and the greater number of cancerous axillary lymph nodes increased the chance of bone metastases significantly ( P < .05). There was no significant difference between mean groups with and without bone metastases regarding serum concentration of CEA, CA-153, HB, and histopathologic type ( P > .05). Logistic regression showed that age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.021), menopausal status (OR = 1.854), number of cancerous axillary lymph nodes (OR = 1.065), a tumor size between 2 and 5 cm diameter (OR = 2.002) and more than 5 cm diameter (OR = 4.009), and ALP (OR = 1.005) are independent prognostic factors associated with bone metastases. The ROC curve showed that the abovementioned factors have comparable predictive accuracy for bone metastases. Conclusions: Age, menopausal status, number of axillary lymph node metastases, tumor size, and ALP were identified as prognostic factors for bone metastasis in patients with breast cancer. So patients with these characteristics should be monitored more precisely with regular follow-ups.

Introduction: Lymphedema is one of the complications of breast cancer treatment. It has no cure yet and can affect the quality of life. This study aimed to identify and investigate informational needs, preferred delivery methods, and time of receiving information about lymphedema for these patients. Methods: One hundred participants were recruited through Lymphedema Clinic in Motamed Cancer Institute in Tehran, Iran, through convenience sampling and were asked to complete a self-administered survey. Data collection took place on all opening days between October 2018 and mid-March 2019. Results: Most of the participants were above 40 years, have a diploma, homemaker, and the average income of most of the participants (57.2%) was low. The importance of having lymphedema information was very high for them. Most of them wanted detailed information at diagnosis of breast cancer. The preferred information of delivery methods were private sessions and social networks. Conclusions: Patients with breast cancer who have lymphedema have high needs as regards concise lymphedema information. Private sessions with physicians and social networks can provide detailed information for them.