title: Analysis of disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with luminal a breast cancer stratified according to TNM.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The TNM classification of malignant tumours is the most commonly used system to assess the stage as well as the prognosis of cancer. However, one of the biggest challenges in treatment of breast cancer is the understanding of tumour heterogeneity typical of these carcinomas. The aim of this study was to analyse the disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with luminal A subtype of breast cancer, stratified by TNM staging system.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 363 medical records from January 2001 to May 2006 were evaluated for data collection. There were 136 patients with luminal A breast cancer, selected for the cohort. The main objective was the analysis of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with luminal A breast cancer, stratified according to the TNM classification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The group of 136 patients with immunohistochemically defined luminal A subtype represented 53% of the 253 patients with breast cancer. There was no significant difference in the number and type of patients as for TNM stage and histological grading among patients treated with chemotherapy and HT in comparison to patients treated with HT alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis did not prove any significant difference in survival of patients treated with chemotherapy followed by hormone therapy in comparison to patients treated with HT alone. We suggest that the IHC luminal A subtype of breast cancer generally warrants a good prognosis independently on other prognostic factors such as TNM stage. We conclude that patients might not benefit of adding a chemotherapy to hormonal therapy in adjuvant settings.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Colchon
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Staak
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Girardi
authors.forename: K Ch
authors.initials: KCh
authors.lastname: Rosar
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Zamboni
authors.forename: L F S
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Grazziotin
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Rebello
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Felippe
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Rovere
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal