Orbital Metastasis in Breast Cancer
Summary
Orbital metastasis represents a rare but clinically significant sequela of breast cancer, accounting for approximately 0.5–2.5 per cent of all metastatic presentations. Tumour cells typically reach the orbit via haematogenous routes and may infiltrate the choroid, orbital fat, extraocular muscles or optic nerve sheath. Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) shows a disproportionate propensity for orbital spread compared with ductal subtypes. Clinical manifestations include vision decline, proptosis, diplopia, ocular pain and elevated intraocular pressure. Diagnosis relies on cross-sectional imaging—magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT)—combined with tissue confirmation through biopsy. Management strategies are multidisciplinary and tailored to symptom burden, tumour biology and overall prognosis. Local control is most often achieved with radiotherapy, while systemic control involves chemotherapy, targeted agents or endocrine therapy in hormone-receptor positive disease. Surgical approaches, including debulking or, rarely, orbital exenteration, may be considered for refractory cases. Orbital involvement typically portends a guarded prognosis, with median survival measured in months, although recent advances in systemic therapy have modestly extended outcomes.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Orbital Metastasis in Breast Cancer publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in orbital metastasis in breast cancer across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Orbital metastasis: Secondary tumour deposits within the bony orbit arising from haematogenous spread of breast carcinoma.
Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC): A histological subtype of breast cancer characterised by small, discohesive cells and a higher tendency for diffuse metastatic patterns, including to the orbit.
Proptosis: Forward displacement or protrusion of the eyeball, commonly caused by space-occupying lesions within the orbit.
Orbital exenteration: Extensive surgical removal of orbital contents, reserved for uncontrolled or destructive metastatic disease.
Radiotherapy: Targeted use of ionising radiation to achieve local tumour control and palliation of orbital metastases.
Endocrine therapy: Systemic treatment modulating hormone receptor pathways, typically employed in oestrogen‐receptor positive breast cancer to inhibit tumour growth.
Biopsy: The procurement of tissue from an orbital lesion to establish histopathological confirmation of metastatic breast carcinoma.
References
- Ocular and Periocular Metastasis in Breast Cancer: Clinical Characteristics, Prognostic Factors and Treatment Outcome. Cancers (2024).
- Orbital Metastases of Breast Cancer in Males. Diagnostics (2023).
- Orbital Metastases: A Systematic Review of Clinical Characteristics, Management Strategies, and Treatment Outcomes. Cancers (2021).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.