Invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast with the "triple-negative" phenotype: prognostic implications of EGFR immunoreactivity.
Invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC) of the breast with the triple negative phenotype (steroid hormone receptor absent, negative HER2 status) are characterized by poor clinical outcome. Additional tumor markers might allow identification of patients at higher risk. We evaluated clinical and biological features of 284 consecutive patients with pT1-3, pN1-3 M0 triple-negative IDC. Median follow-up was 70 months (interquartile range 59-94 months). Statistically significant worse disease-free and overall survival were observed in multivariate analysis, for patients with EGFR immunoreactivity in >or=50% invasive tumor cells (HR 2.39, 95% CI, 1.32-4.34, P = 0.004 for DFS; HR 2.34, 95% CI, 1.20-4.59 P = 0.01 for OS). Age >or= 70 years and PVI were additional independent predictors of reduced overall survival. EGFR immunoreactivity significantly correlates with worse prognosis in patients with triple-negative IDC, supporting further studies on the correlation between the degree of EGFR expression and outcome of triple negative breast cancer.
Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. giuseppe.viale@ieo.it
Giuseppe
G
Viale
Nicole
N
Rotmensz
Patrick
P
Maisonneuve
Luca
L
Bottiglieri
Emilia
E
Montagna
Alberto
A
Luini
Paolo
P
Veronesi
Mattia
M
Intra
Rosalba
R
Torrisi
Anna
A
Cardillo
Elisabetta
E
Campagnoli
Aron
A
Goldhirsch
Marco
M
Colleoni
D000367:Age Factors; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008408:Mastectomy; D010641:Phenotype; D011379:Prognosis; D011878:Radiotherapy; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone