Prognostic factors of early distant recurrence in hormone receptor-positive, postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant tamoxifen therapy: results of a retrospective analysis.
BACKGROUND
Current adjuvant hormone therapy in postmenopausal women with breast cancer is debatable between upfront aromatase inhibitors (AIs) and sequential treatment with tamoxifen. A major concern is the higher rate of early recurrences observed with sequential treatment. The authors conducted a retrospective analysis to identify risk factors of early recurrences in hormone receptor (HR)-positive, postmenopausal women within the first 3 years of adjuvant tamoxifen.


METHODS
Between 1986 and 2000, operable breast cancer patients who received exclusively adjuvant tamoxifen for at least 3 years were selected from the authors' institutional database. Age, histology, pathologic tumor size, modified Scarff-Bloom-Richardson (mSBR) grade, mitotic index, tumor necrosis, peritumoral vascular emboli (PVE), HR status, and the number of involved axillary lymph-node were considered as prognostic factors of recurrence.


RESULTS
Among 715 patients who met the inclusion criteria, a distant recurrence occurred in 38 patients (5.3%) within the first 3 years of tamoxifen therapy. Significant prognostic factors of early recurrence were mSBR, axillary lymph node involvement, tumor necrosis, mitotic index, PVE, and pathologic tumor size. Grade 1 and/or lymph node-negative tumors were excluded from the multivariate analysis (1 recurrence in 208 patients). In this model, mSBR grade 3 was the only significant predictive factor of early recurrence (hazard ratio, 3.72; P<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, a subset of patients was identified that was at low-risk of early recurrence (mSBR grade 1 and/or negative lymph node status). Women in that subset could be treated using sequential hormone therapy with tamoxifen and AIs. In women with mSBR grade 3 or lymph node-positive tumors, an upfront treatment with AIs seemed to be the current optimal strategy.
Debled
Marc
M
Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Bergonie, Bordeaux, France. debled@bergonie.org
MacGrogan
Gaëtan
G
Brouste
Véronique
V
Mathoulin-Pelissier
Simone
S
Durand
Michel
M
Mauriac
Louis
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D017698:Postmenopause; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D013629:Tamoxifen