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. 2024 Aug;206(3):603-614.
doi: 10.1007/s10549-024-07336-4. Epub 2024 May 14.

The emerging predictive and prognostic role of HER2 in HER2-negative early breast cancer: a retrospective study

Matilde Corianò  1   2 , Chiara Tommasi  1 , Anh Thi Lan Dinh  2   3 , Jazmine Needham  2 , Hala Aziz  2 , Nalinie Joharatnam-Hogan  2 , Niamh Cunningham  2 , Jasmin Waterhouse  2 , Mingze Sun  2   4 , Fiona Turkes  2 , Benedetta Pellegrino  1 , Sophie McGrath  2 , Alicia Okines  2 , Marina Parton  2 , Nicholas Turner  2 , Stephen Johnston  2 , Antonino Musolino  1 , Alistair Ring #  2 , Nicolò Matteo Luca Battisti #  5
Affiliations

The emerging predictive and prognostic role of HER2 in HER2-negative early breast cancer: a retrospective study

Matilde Corianò et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: Many patients with early breast cancer (eBC) undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy do not achieve pathological complete response (pCR), which is a prognostic factor. We examined the role of HER2-low expression in predicting pCR and prognosis in HER2-negative eBC.

Methods: We evaluated patients with stage I-III HER2-negative BC, treated between 2013 and 2023 at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London. Tumors were classified based on estrogen receptor (ER) status and into HER2-low and HER2-zero subgroups. We analyzed pCR rates, relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).

Results: 754 patients were included in the analysis. pCR rate was 8.9% in the ER+ /HER2-low, 16.5% in the ER+ /HER2-zero, 38.9% in the ER- ER-/HER2-low and 35.9% in the ER-/HER2-zero eBC (p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed a significantly lower pCR rate in HER2-low compared to HER2-zero BC in the ER+ subgroup. At a median follow-up of 63.8 months (59.9-67.4), we observed longer OS in HER2-low compared to HER2-zero patients in the overall and in the ER+ population. There was no predictive or prognostic impact of HER2-low status in the ER- population.

Conclusion: This study supports the interpretation of HER2 status as a possible prognostic and predictive biomarker for HER2-negative eBC, especially among patients with ER+ disease.

Keywords: Early breast cancer; Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2); Pathological complete response (pCR); Prognosis.

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References

    1. Cortazar P et al (2014) Pathological complete response and long-term clinical benefit in breast cancer: The CTNeoBC pooled analysis. The Lancet. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04622319#study-record-dates
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    1. Schmid P et al (2020) Pembrolizumab for early triple-negative breast cancer. New Engl J Med. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04622319#study-record-dates

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