In a retrospective study of 1,550 patients with breast carcinoma, 54 were diagnosed with liver metastases 1 month or more before death, which was roughly 10% of what could be expected. The mean survival of these patients was 6 months, 35% surviving after 6 months and 13% after 12 months. Only 20% of the patients with hepatic metastases were more than 60 years of age. The interval between the operation of the primary tumour and the diagnosis of the liver metastases averaged 4 years. For those with perinodular growth in the axillary lymph nodes, a mean interval of 20 months elapsed and for those without any local spreading, 59 months. The primary spreading did not influence the survival time after the diagnosis of the liver metastases.