BACKGROUND: We analysed the clinical features, distribution of basal markers, prevalence of oncogene amplification, and outcome of triple negative (TN) compared to those of non-TN cancers in a series of adjuvant-anthracycline treated breast cancer patients. METHODS: We examined the prognostic impact of the TN and BL phenotype in 245 breast cancer patients uniformly treated with adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy following primary surgery, with regards to local relapse-free (LRFS), metastasis free (MFS), and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS). A comparative analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics, expression of basal markers (cytokeratins (Cks) 5/6, 14, 17, EGFR, and caveolin 1 and 2), MIB-1, p53 and topoisomerase II alpha, and prevalence of CCND1, MYC and TOP2A amplification in TN and non-TN breast tumours was performed. RESULTS: TN cancers were significantly associated with the expression of basal markers (all P < 0.0001). However 19.4% of TN tumours were negative for basal markers, whilst 7.3% of non-TN tumours expressed basal markers. TN phenotype was significantly associated with p53, MIB-1 and topoisomerase II alpha (all, P < 0.01) expression. No TN cancer harboured amplification of CCND1 or TOP2A. In univariate analysis, TN and BL phenotype were significantly associated with shorter MFS (both, P < 0.01) and BCSS (both, P < 0.005) but not LRFS. CONCLUSIONS: Despite treatment with standard dose anthracycline-based chemotherapy, the clinical outcome of TN and BL cancers remains poor. Alternative chemotherapeutic regimens and/or novel therapeutic approaches are warranted. Although a significant phenotypic overlap exists between TN and basal-like tumours, the TN phenotype is not an ideal surrogate marker for basal-like breast cancers.
BACKGROUND: We analysed the clinical features, distribution of basal markers, prevalence of oncogene amplification, and outcome of triple negative (TN) compared to those of non-TN cancers in a series of adjuvant-anthracycline treated breast cancer patients. METHODS: We examined the prognostic impact of the TN and BL phenotype in 245 breast cancer patients uniformly treated with adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy following primary surgery, with regards to local relapse-free (LRFS), metastasis free (MFS), and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS). A comparative analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics, expression of basal markers (cytokeratins (Cks) 5/6, 14, 17, EGFR, and caveolin 1 and 2), MIB-1, p53 and topoisomerase II alpha, and prevalence of CCND1, MYC and TOP2A amplification in TN and non-TN breast tumours was performed. RESULTS: TN cancers were significantly associated with the expression of basal markers (all P < 0.0001). However 19.4% of TN tumours were negative for basal markers, whilst 7.3% of non-TN tumours expressed basal markers. TN phenotype was significantly associated with p53, MIB-1 and topoisomerase II alpha (all, P < 0.01) expression. No TN cancer harboured amplification of CCND1 or TOP2A. In univariate analysis, TN and BL phenotype were significantly associated with shorter MFS (both, P < 0.01) and BCSS (both, P < 0.005) but not LRFS. CONCLUSIONS: Despite treatment with standard dose anthracycline-based chemotherapy, the clinical outcome of TN and BL cancers remains poor. Alternative chemotherapeutic regimens and/or novel therapeutic approaches are warranted. Although a significant phenotypic overlap exists between TN and basal-like tumours, the TN phenotype is not an ideal surrogate marker for basal-like breast cancers.
Authors: Franca Podo; Lutgarde M C Buydens; Hadassa Degani; Riet Hilhorst; Edda Klipp; Ingrid S Gribbestad; Sabine Van Huffel; Hanneke W M van Laarhoven; Jan Luts; Daniel Monleon; Geert J Postma; Nicole Schneiderhan-Marra; Filippo Santoro; Hans Wouters; Hege G Russnes; Therese Sørlie; Elda Tagliabue; Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale Journal: Mol Oncol Date: 2010-04-24 Impact factor: 6.603
Authors: Joseph A Sparano; Lori J Goldstein; Barrett H Childs; Steven Shak; Diana Brassard; Sunil Badve; Frederick L Baehner; Roberto Bugarini; Steve Rowley; Edith A Perez; Lawrence N Shulman; Silvana Martino; Nancy E Davidson; Paraic A Kenny; George W Sledge; Robert Gray Journal: Clin Cancer Res Date: 2011-09-20 Impact factor: 12.531
Authors: Sara Rodriguez-Acebes; Ian Proctor; Marco Loddo; Alex Wollenschlaeger; Mohammed Rashid; Mary Falzon; A Toby Prevost; Richard Sainsbury; Kai Stoeber; Gareth H Williams Journal: Am J Pathol Date: 2010-08-19 Impact factor: 4.307
Authors: Rohit Bhargava; Joan Striebel; Sushil Beriwal; John C Flickinger; Agnieszka Onisko; Gretchen Ahrendt; David J Dabbs Journal: Int J Clin Exp Pathol Date: 2009-02-09