title: Her-2/neu expression as a predictive factor for response to anthracycline-based chemotherapy in a mexican population of locally advanced breast cancer patients.
abstract: Breast cancer is the second most frequent tumor in Mexico 30-50% are diagnosed in locally advanced stages requiring neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The overexpression of HER-2/neu has been identified as a chemotherapy response predictor. The objective of our study was to identify response predictive factors to anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer. Data were collected from clinical records of patients with neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy, for clinical stage III breast cancer from 1992 to 1997. Paraffin blocks were reviewed to determine histologic grade, HER-2/neu expression, and ploidy. Patients were divided in two groups: A, 56 cases responding to chemotherapy and, B, 20 nonresponders. Mean age was 50.1 and 45.4 for groups A and B, respectively (OR 7.02, p = 0.004), and those premenopausal were 43% and 70%, respectively (OR 3.1, p = 0.04). Mean tumor size was 5 cm in responders and 8 cm for nonresponders (OR 4, p = 0.02). Clinical stage III-B 16% and 70% for groups A and B (OR 12.2, p = 0.000); tumors were aneuploid in 39% of responders and 18.7% for nonresponders. HER-2 /neu was overexpressed in 64.2% and 50% for groups A and B (OR 3.6, p = 0.06). On multivariate analysis significance was conserved only for age, clinical stage, and size. HER-2/neu lost significance. Age and size were importantly related to tumor response, a higher percentage of HER-2/neu overexpression was observed in responders, without significance due to small sample size. It would be important to study a larger number of patients to obtain more conclusive results.
authors.affiliation: Gynecological Oncology, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico Distrito Federal, Mexico.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Gonzalez
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zeichner-Gancz
authors.forename: Myrna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Candelaria
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ramirez-Ugalde
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perez-Sanchez
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cervantes-Vazquez
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cantu-de Leon
authors.forename: Arcelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mora-Tizcareño
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leonor-Ortíz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D004317:Doxorubicin; D005472:Fluorouracil; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases