Is adjuvant chemotherapy of benefit for postmenopausal women who receive endocrine treatment for highly endocrine-responsive, node-positive breast cancer? International Breast Cancer Study Group Trials VII and 12–93 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 2015
Springerlink.com patients (n = 6199) were HR-positive, whereas 14.2 % (n = 1030) were HR-negative. Overall, 85.3 % (n = 5285) of HR-positive patients received ET either alone or in combination with chemotherapy (CHT) and/or trastuzumab. The majority of premenopausal patients received CHT plus ET (716 patients, 52.3 %). In postmenopausal patients, the most frequent systemic therapy was ET alone (2670 patients, 55.3 %). Best overall survival (OS) was found in HER2-/HR-positive patients receiving CHT plus ET plus trastuzumab (7-year OS rate of 97.2 % in premenopausal patients versus 86.9 % in postmenopausal patients). Premenopausal patients had a reduced benefit from additional CHT than postmenopausal patients. Premenopausal patients receiving only ET had a 7-year OS rate of 95.3 % compared to 92.7 % of patients receiving CHT plus ET. In contrast, postmenopausal patients treated with CHT plus ET had a 7-year OS rate of 84.
The Breast, 2007
Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NAET) can expand the number of breast cancer patients who can be treated with breast-conserving surgery and can predict benefit from adjuvant endocrine therapy. Because no validated surrogate markers for long-term outcome have been established, we conducted prospective trials to evaluate pathological response and Ki-67 index following treatment with tamoxifen or anastrozole. The study population included postmenopausal women with operable breast tumors that were both estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive and larger than 3 cm. Response was classified as pathological response (minimal response or better) and non-response. Non-responding (25.5%, vs. response 85.9%, p ¼ 0.002), axillary node-positive (58.4% vs. node negative 100%, p ¼ 0.045), and high pretreatment Ki-67 index (41.4% vs. low Ki-67 87.1%, p ¼ 0.03) patients were significantly associated with poor 5-year relapse-free survival. Multivariate analysis of relapse-free survival indicated that pathological response was independent. Therefore, pathological response may be a favorable prognostic factor after NAET.
Breast Cancer Research
Introduction For patients with locally advanced estrogen receptor or progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer, neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) facilitates down-staging of the tumor and increased rates of breast-conserving surgery. However, NET remains under-utilized, and there are very limited clinical guidelines governing which therapeutic agent to use, or the optimal duration of treatment in postmenopausal women. This literature review aims to discuss the evidence surrounding (1) biomarkers for patient selection for NET, (2) the optimal neoadjuvant endocrine agent for postmenopausal women with locally advanced breast cancer, and (3) the optimal duration of NET. In addition, we make initial recommendations towards developing a clinical guideline for the prescribing of NET. Method A wide-ranging search of online electronic databases was conducted using a truncated PIC search strategy to identify articles that were relevant to these aims and revealed a number of key findings....
Breast Cancer, 2011
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) were more effective than tamoxifen as a neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NAE) for postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)positive breast cancer. Neoadjuvant AIs were shown to reduce tumor volume and to allow the performance of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) in cases that would normally require mastectomy. Predictive markers of neoadjuvant AIs may be ER-rich, progesterone receptor (PgR)rich and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative tumors. However, the ability of HER2 expression to predict a response to neoadjuvant AIs is controversial. Pathological tumor size, nodal status, Ki67 level, and ER score are predictive for the survival of postmenopausal women with breast cancer who have been treated with NAE. These factors could be useful in order to select patients who do not require chemotherapy. Indeed, neoadjuvant AIs are a potential treatment option for postmenopausal women with ER-rich breast cancer who prefer BCS despite having large tumors suitable for mastectomy.
Extended Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer: Current Status and Future Directions
Clinical Cancer Updates, 2008
The optimal duration and treatment strategies involving adjuvant endocrine therapy in early breast cancer remained largely undetermined. As data emerge on the various modalities of treatment in both pre-and postmenopausal groups, debates, and discussions continue. Most studies to date focused on the 5-year duration of treatment consisting of mainly tamoxifen. The Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination (ATAC) study demonstrated that anastrozole is superior to tamoxifen and has become the mainstream treatment in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer, although the duration was arbitrarily set for 5 years, analogous to tamoxifen treatment. Several clinical trials, however, have emerged to support extended endocrine therapy as it becomes clear that the recurrence risk of breast cancer does not decrease beyond the initial 5 years of treatment. The advent of molecular signatures also plays an important role in the breast cancer profiling, and where available should be incorporated in the overall decision-making. Furthermore, side effects and noncompliance pose another issue in achieving an optimal treatment benefit. The decision-making as regards to extended endocrine treatment should therefore focus not only on the cancer biology alone but also include treatment side effects, assessment of risk of recurrence and patients' preference. In this review, we present an overview of the published studies to date as well as ongoing studies on the topic to better refine the options for adjuvant hormonal therapy. n
Premenopausal endocrine-responsive early breast cancer: who receives chemotherapy?
Annals of Oncology, 2008
BACKGROUND: The role of chemotherapy in addition to combined endocrine therapy for premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer remains an open question, yet trials designed to answer it have repeatedly failed to adequately accrue. The International Breast Cancer Study Group initiated two concurrent trials in this population: in Premenopausal Endocrine Responsive Chemotherapy (PERCHE), chemotherapy use is determined by randomization and in Tamoxifen and Exemestane Trial (TEXT) by physician choice. PERCHE closed with inadequate accrual; TEXT accrued rapidly. METHODS: From 2003 to 2006, 1317 patients (890 with baseline data) were randomly assigned to receive ovarian function suppression (OFS) plus tamoxifen or OFS plus exemestane for 5 years in TEXT. We explore patient-related factors according to whether or not chemotherapy was given using descriptive statistics and classification and regression trees. RESULTS: Adjuvant chemotherapy was chosen for 64% of patients. Lymph node status was the predominant determinant of chemotherapy use (88% of node positive treated versus 46% of node negative). Geography, patient age, tumor size and grade were also determinants, but degree of receptor positivity and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status were not. CONCLUSIONS: The perceived estimation of increased risk of relapse is the primary determinant for using chemotherapy despite uncertainties regarding the degree of benefit it offers when added to combined endocrine therapy in this population.