Comparison of Methods of Measuring HER-2 in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated With High-Dose Chemotherapy

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1698-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndsay N. Harris ◽  
Vlayka Liotcheva ◽  
Gloria Broadwater ◽  
Michael J. Ramirez ◽  
Peter Maimonis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Overall Survival ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Prognostic Factor ◽  
Alkylating Agents ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Her 2

PURPOSE: HER-2 is overexpressed in 20% to 30% of human breast cancer and is associated with poor outcome. Studies suggest an association between HER-2 overexpression and resistance to alkylating agents. To further evaluate this relationship, we assessed the interaction of HER-2, measured by different methods, and outcome after dose intensification with alkylating agents in metastatic breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1988 to 1995 at Duke University, 425 patients with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in a study of high-dose alkylating agents (HDC) with autologous cellular support after doxorubicin-based therapy (AFM). HER-2 was measured in serum for shed extracellular domain (ECD) and in tissue by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). RESULTS: HER-2 ECD was positive in 29% (19 of 65) of patients pre-AFM and in 11.7% (34 of 290) pre-HDC. Higher pre-AFM and higher pre-HDC HER-2 ECD predicted worse overall survival (P = .045 and P = .0096, respectively). HER-2 overexpression by IHC and FISH showed no correlation with worse disease-free survival or overall survival. FISH and ECD were highly specific for IHC (97.3% and 97.7% respectively). However, ECD had a low sensitivity for IHC—only 22% of patients with HER-2 in the primary tumor shed ECD into the serum. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the method of measuring HER-2 is important in predicting clinical outcome. HER2 ECD may identify a poor prognosis subgroup of HER-2–positive tumors. Lack of association of HER2 by IHC/FISH with worse outcome suggests that therapy with AFM and/or HDC therapy may be able to overcome the effect of this prognostic factor or it may not be a prognostic factor in this setting.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte index as prognostic factor for overall survival and disease-free survival in breast cancer patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-144
Author(s):  
Guillermo Peralta-Castillo ◽  
Antonio Maffuz-Aziz ◽  
Mariana Sierra-Murguía ◽  
Sergio Rodriguez-Cuevas
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Overall Survival ◽  
Prognostic Factor ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Disease Free Survival ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Disease Free

Circulating Tumor Cells in HER-2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Trastuzumab and Chemotherapy

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel A. Nunes ◽  
Xiaochun Li ◽  
Soonmo Peter Kang ◽  
Harold Burstein ◽  
Lisa Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Her 2

The detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood may have important prognostic and predictive implications in breast cancer treatment. A limitation in this field has been the lack of a validated method of accurately measuring CTCs. While sensitivity has improved using RT-PCR, specificity remains a major challenge. The goal of this paper is to present a sensitive and specific methodology of detecting CTCs in women with HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer, and to examine its role as a marker that tracks disease response during treatment with trastuzumab-containing regimens. The study included patients with HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer enrolled on two different clinical protocols using a trastuzumab-containing regimen. Serial CTCs were measured at planned time points and clinical correlations were made. Immunomagnetic selection of circulating epithelial cells was used to address the specificity of tumor cell detection using cytokeratin 19 (CK19). In addition, the extracellular domain of the HER-2 protein (HER-2/ECD) was measured to determine if CTCs detected by CK19 accurately reflect tumor burden. The presence of CTCs at first restaging was associated with disease progression. We observed an association between CK19 and HER-2/ECD. The association of HER-2/ECD with clinical response followed a similar pattern to that seen with CK19. Finally, the absence of HER-2/ECD at best overall response and a change of HER-2/ECD from positive at baseline to negative at best overall response was associated with favorable treatment response. Our study supports the prognostic and predictive role of the detection of CTCs in treatment of HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients. The association between CK19 and markers of disease burden is in line with the concept that CTCs may be a reliable measure of tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer. The association of CTCs at first restaging with treatment failure indicates that CTCs may have a role as surrogate markers to monitor treatment response.

Up-Front Tandem High-Dose Chemotherapy Compared With Standard Chemotherapy With Doxorubicin and Paclitaxel in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Results of a Randomized Trial

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Schmid ◽  
Walter Schippinger ◽  
Thorsten Nitsch ◽  
Gerdt Huebner ◽  
Volker Heilmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Overall Survival ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Combination Therapy ◽  
Objective Response ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
High Dose Chemotherapy ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Intent To Treat

Purpose The role of high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) in metastatic breast cancer remains controversial. Trials with late intensification HDCT have failed to show an advantage in overall survival. This study was initiated to compare up-front tandem HDCT and standard combination therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Patients and Methods Patients without prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease were randomly assigned to standard combination therapy with doxorubicin and paclitaxel (AT) or double HDCT with cyclophosphamide, mitoxantrone, and etoposide followed by peripheral-blood stem-cell transplantation. HDCT was repeated after 6 weeks. Patients were stratified by menopausal and hormone-receptor status. The primary objective was to compare complete response (CR) rates. Results A total of 93 patients were enrolled onto the trial. Intent-to-treat CR rates for patients randomized to HDCT and AT were 12.5% and 11.1%, respectively (P = .84). Objective response rates were 66.7% for patients in the high-dose group and 64.4% for patients in the AT arm (P = .82). In an intent-to-treat analysis, there were no significant differences between the two treatments in median time to progression (HDCT, 11.1 months; AT, 10.6 months; P = .67), duration of response (HDCT, 13.9 months; AT, 14.3 months; P = .98), and overall survival (HDCT, 26.9 months; AT, 23.4 months; P = .60). HDCT was associated with significantly more myelosuppression, infection, diarrhea, stomatitis, and nausea and vomiting, whereas patients treated with AT developed more neurotoxicity. Conclusion This trial failed to show a benefit for up-front tandem HDCT compared with standard combination therapy. HDCT was associated with more acute adverse effects.

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