Prognostic significance of changes in CA 15-3 serum levels during chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients.
Tumor response to first-line chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer offers prognostic information and may be used as a surrogate marker for evaluating treatment efficacy. With this study we wanted to determine whether changes in circulating serum CA 15-3 levels during chemotherapy provided additional information for prognostic prediction. Serum CA 15-3 was measured at baseline and after 3 and 6 months during anthracycline-based first-line chemotherapy in 526 patients with advanced breast cancer prospectively enrolled in five phase II-III trials. Changes in marker levels were correlated with disease response, time to progression and overall survival. In all, 336 patients attained a disease response. A significant relationship was found between disease response and CA 15-3 variations, although many individual discrepancies were also observed. At the 6-month time point, the median time to progression was 15.3 months in patients with normal marker levels throughout the study, 11.7 months in those with a CA15-3 reduction >25%, 9.6 months in those with elevated baseline CA 15-3 levels which did not change during therapy and 8.6 months in those with increased marker levels (p < 0.001). The median survival was 42.3, 29.7, 28.5, and 24.8 months, respectively (p < 0.002). The prognostic role of changes in CA 15-3 levels was maintained in the patient subset attaining disease response or stabilization to treatment (p < 0.001) and after adjusting for clinical response and major prognostic parameters in the multivariate analysis (p < 0.001). In conclusion, monitoring serum CA 15-3 levels during first-line chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer patients provides prognostic information independently from tumor response.
Tampellini
Marco
M
Medical Oncology, University of Turin, Ospedale San Luigi, Orbassano, Torino, Italy.
Berruti
Alfredo
A
Bitossi
Raffaella
R
Gorzegno
Gabriella
G
Alabiso
Irene
I
Bottini
Alberto
A
Farris
Antonio
A
Donadio
Michela
M
Sarobba
Maria Giuseppa
MG
Manzin
Enrica
E
Durando
Antonio
A
Defabiani
Enza
E
De Matteis
Andrea
A
Ardine
Mara
M
Castiglione
Federico
F
Danese
Saverio
S
Bertone
Elena
E
Alabiso
Oscar
O
Massobrio
Marco
M
Dogliotti
Luigi
L