Annals of Oncology 11:1545-1550, 2000
© 2000 European Society for Medical Oncology
research-article |
ErbB2 status and the benefit from two or five years of adjuvant tamoxifen in postmenopausal early stage breast cancer
1Department of Biomedicine and Surgery, Division of Oncology, Link
ping University Linköping
2Department of Oncology, University Hospital Lund, Sweden
Correspondence to: O. Stål, Ph D Department of Oncology, University Hospital, 581 85 Linkoping Sweden E-mail: olle.stal{at}onk.liu.se
Aim:We aimed to study the importance of erbB2 status in early stage postmenopausal breast cancer for patients who participated in a trial of five vs. two years of adjuvant tamoxifen.
Patients and methods: We analysed the erbB2 status of the tumours from 577 patients participating in the trial, either by a DNA amplification assay (n=181) or by measurement of the protein level with flow cytometry (n=396).
Results: ErbB2 was overexpressed or gene amplified in 102 of the patients (18%). Overall, erbB2-positive patients had a significantly lower recurrence-free probability than others, 62% at five years as compared to 83%, and showed a significantly decreased breast cancer survival rate (P=0.0007). ErbB2 status was significantly associated with recurrence and death in Cox multivariate analysis, adjusting for nodal status, tumour size and estrogen receptor status. The relative risk of recurrence (RR) for five vs. two years of tamoxifen was analysed in relation to erbB2 status for patients still disease-free two years after surgery. Whereas erbB2-negative patients showed significant benefit from prolonged treatment (RR=0.62, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.42–0.93), no benefit was evident for erbB2-positive patients (RR=1.1, 95% CI: 0.41–3.2). When the same analysis was restricted to ER-positive patients a similar difference in relative hazard was obtained but the difference was not strictly significant (P=0.065).
Conclusions: For early stage breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant tamoxifen, overexpression of erbB2 is an independent marker of poor prognosis. The results suggest that overexpression decreases the benefit from prolonged tamoxifen treatment.
breast cancer, erbB2, HER-2/neu, tamoxifen, therapy resistance
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  N. Normanno, M. Di Maio, E. De Maio, A. De Luca, A. de Matteis, A. Giordano, F. Perrone, and on behalf of the NCI-Naples Breast Cancer Group Mechanisms of endocrine resistance and novel therapeutic strategies in breast cancer Endocr. Relat. Cancer, December 1, 2005; 12(4): 721 - 747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K Jirstrom, L Ryden, L Anagnostaki, B Nordenskjold, O Stal, S Thorstenson, G Chebil, P-E Jonsson, M Ferno, and G Landberg Pathology parameters and adjuvant tamoxifen response in a randomised premenopausal breast cancer trial J. Clin. Pathol., November 1, 2005; 58(11): 1135 - 1142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Jirstrom, M. Stendahl, L. Ryden, A. Kronblad, P.-O. Bendahl, O. Stal, G. Landberg, and The South Swedish and Southeast Swedish Breast Can Adverse Effect of Adjuvant Tamoxifen in Premenopausal Breast Cancer with Cyclin D1 Gene Amplification Cancer Res., September 1, 2005; 65(17): 8009 - 8016. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Ryden, K. Jirstrom, P.-O. Bendahl, M. Ferno, B. Nordenskjold, O. Stal, S. Thorstenson, P.-E. Jonsson, and G. Landberg Tumor-Specific Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 but Not Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor or Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Is Associated With Impaired Response to Adjuvant Tamoxifen in Premenopausal Breast Cancer J. Clin. Oncol., July 20, 2005; 23(21): 4695 - 4704. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. De Laurentiis, G. Arpino, E. Massarelli, A. Ruggiero, C. Carlomagno, F. Ciardiello, G. Tortora, D. D'Agostino, F. Caputo, G. Cancello, et al. A Meta-Analysis on the Interaction between HER-2 Expression and Response to Endocrine Treatment in Advanced Breast Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2005; 11(13): 4741 - 4748. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. J. Burstein and E. P. Winer HER2 or Not HER2: That Is the Question J. Clin. Oncol., June 1, 2005; 23(16): 3656 - 3659. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Ring and M. Dowsett Mechanisms of tamoxifen resistance Endocr. Relat. Cancer, December 1, 2004; 11(4): 643 - 658. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. W. Park, R. S. Kerbel, G. J. Kelloff, J. C. Barrett, B. A. Chabner, D. R. Parkinson, J. Peck, R. W. Ruddon, C. C. Sigman, and D. J. Slamon Rationale for Biomarkers and Surrogate End Points in Mechanism-Driven Oncology Drug Development Clin. Cancer Res., June 1, 2004; 10(11): 3885 - 3896. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Jones Combining trastuzumab (Herceptin(R)) with hormonal therapy in breast cancer: what can be expected and why? Ann. Onc., December 1, 2003; 14(12): 1697 - 1704. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Spyratos, C. Bouchet, M. Ferrero-Pous, M. Tubiana-Hulin, and K. Hacene Re: Quantitative Association Between HER-2/neu and Steroid Hormone Receptors in Hormone Receptor-Positive Primary Breast Cancer J Natl Cancer Inst, September 17, 2003; 95(18): 1417 - 1418. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. De Placido, M. De Laurentiis, C. Carlomagno, C. Gallo, F. Perrone, S. Pepe, A. Ruggiero, A. Marinelli, C. Pagliarulo, L. Panico, et al. Twenty-year Results of the Naples GUN Randomized Trial: Predictive Factors of Adjuvant Tamoxifen Efficacy in Early Breast Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., March 1, 2003; 9(3): 1039 - 1046. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. J. Kerr Pride and judgement: the Annals of Oncology prizes Ann. Onc., June 1, 2002; 13(6): 817 - 818. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. A. Perez, P. C. Roche, R. B. Jenkins, C. A. Reynolds, K. C. Halling, J. N. Ingle, and L. E. Wold HER2 Testing in Patients With Breast Cancer: Poor Correlation Between Weak Positivity by Immunohistochemistry and Gene Amplification by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Mayo Clin. Proc., February 1, 2002; 77(2): 148 - 154. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|