title: For or against adjuvant trastuzumab for pT1a-bN0M0 breast cancer patients with HER2-positive tumors: a meta-analysis of published literatures.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the prognosis of patients with small (≤1cm) tumors is generally favorable, emerging data suggests that biological behavior varies between intrinsic subtypes in such patients. Furthermore, it still remains unclear whether HER2-positive pT1a-bN0M0 patients could benefit from adjuvant trastuzumab. For further evaluation, we sought to conduct a meta-analysis so as to get a better understanding of the prognosis for HER2-positive pT1a-bN0M0 patients and their survival benefit from adjuvant trastuzumab, accordingly, offering the implications for current practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PubMed database, the online proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meetings, the online proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, and the CD proceedings of the International St. Gallen Breast Cancer Conference were searched for all relevant studies published before September 2012. Relative risks (RRs) were used to compare the prognosis of different intrinsic subtypes for pT1a-bN0M0 breast cancer. Analyses were also performed to estimate the association between adjuvant trastuzumab and various survival outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With eight eligible studies identified, this meta-analysis demonstrated a deleterious effect of HER2+ phenotype on disease-free survival (DFS; RR = 3.677, 95% CI 2.606-5.189, p <0.001) and distant disease-free survival (DDFS; RR = 3.824, 95% CI 2.249-6.501, p<0.001) as compared to HR+/HER2- subgroup. However, significant difference failed to be achieved in terms of any endpoint between HER2+ and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Besides, a marked improvement in DFS was observed with the addition of trastuzumab for HER2-positive pT1a-bN0M0 patients (RR = 0.323, 95% CI 0.191-0.547, p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This meta-analysis clarifies that intrinsic subtypes might be a reliable marker to predict the prognosis in pT1a-bN0M0 breast cancer. Besides, even for such early stage HER2-positive patients, adjuvant trastuzumab might bring significant survival benefit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qiong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wenjin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yueyao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China ; Department of Breast Surgery, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jinsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D017594:Publication Bias; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D000068878:Trastuzumab; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D000068878:Trastuzumab