title: The predictive value of PgR and HER-2 for response to primary systemic chemotherapy in inflammatory breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most aggressive form of primary breast cancer. We examined the relationship between clinicopathological factors and clinical response to primary systemic chemotherapy (PSC) and outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five patients with IBC were examined. Twelve patients received an anthracycline-based regimen, and 13 patients received an anthracycline-and a taxane-containing regimen as PSC. The expression of hormone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) was determined by immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall clinical response rate was 64.0%. Clinical response to PSC was higher in patients with progesterone receptor (PgR)-positive (P = 0.01) and HER-2-negative (P = 0.03) tumors. Patients with fewer than ten involved axillary lymph nodes (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02, respectively) and with a clinical response to PSC (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01, respectively) showed better distant disease-free survival and overall survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with IBC, PgR-positive and HER-2-negative tumors are more sensitive to anthracycline-based PSC. Patients with extensive residual tumor (ten or more lymph-nodes involved, no response to PSC) after PSC had unfavorable prognoses.
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. nogi_h@jikei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nogi
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tabei
authors.forename: Kazumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawase
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toriumi
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone