Annals of Oncology Advance Access originally published online on August 5, 2005
Annals of Oncology 2005 16(11):1755-1761; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdi364
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© 2005 European Society for Medical Oncology
Hormone receptors do not predict the HER2/neu status in all age groups of women with an operable breast cancer
1 Division of Gynecologic Oncology in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Levven University Hospital, Levven, Belgium; 2 Division of Gynecologic Oncology in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 3 Multidisciplinary Breast Centre, 4 Department of Pathology, 5 Department of Medical Oncology, 6 Department of Radiooncology and 7 Department of Surgery, Leuven University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium
* Correspondence to: Dr P. Neven, Leuven University Hospital, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium. Tel: +32-16-344634; Fax: +32-16-344629; E-mail: Patrick.Neven{at}uz.kuleuven.ac.be
Background: In breast cancer, there is an inverse relationship between HER2/neu overexpression and receptors for estrogen (ER) or progesterone (PR). Some clinical observations such as the age-related association between hormone receptors and tumour grade, which predicts HER2/neu overexpression, suggest an age-related relationship.
Patients and methods: Our study population consisted of 1362 consecutive women receiving primary surgery for non-metastatic invasive breast cancer. We compared the relationship between both hormone receptors and HER2/neu overexpression in different age groups taking other tumour characteristics into account.
Results: In a multivariate model, considering the overall group, a negative ER, a negative PR and a high tumour grade were predictive for HER2/neu overexpression (P <0.001). Considering 246 women aged
45 years, the only predictor for HER2/neu overexpression in this age category was a high tumour grade (P = 0.003). Considering the 1116 women aged >45 years, ER (P = 0.001), PR (P = 0.001) and tumour grade (P <0.001) were associated with HER2/neu (P <0.001).
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the association between ER, PR and HER2/neu overexpression varies with age. The hormone receptors are not an independent predictor for the HER2/neu status in young women while they are in elder patients.
Key words: estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2/neu, breast tumours
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