Luminal A and Luminal B subtypes in patients with breast cancer 65 years of age and older.
549 Background: In 2011, the St. Gallen International Expert Consensus on the Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer (bc) suggested the distinction between Luminal A and Luminal B subtypes. In Luminal A patients (pts) endocrine therapy seems to be sufficiently effective, whereas in Luminal B pts the additional application of chemotherapy should be considered. It is currently unknown, whether the risk stratification into Luminal A and B is comparably or more discriminatory than the established pathologic tumor size (pT) and lymph node (pN) status in pts ≥ 65 years. This analysis evaluates the discriminatory capacity of the new distinction between Luminal A and B and the established prognostic factors in bc pts ≥ 65 years treated with endocrine therapy only. Methods: Clinico-pathological data of 190 bc pts ≥ 65 years diagnosed between 1998 and 2004 were retrospectively analyzed. Pts were classified as Luminal A [ER (+) and/ or PR (+) and Her/2neu (-) and Ki-67 < 14%] or Luminal B [ER (+) and/ or PR (+) and Her2 (-) and Ki-67 ≥ 14%]. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) estimates. Differences in survival between groups were tested for significance by the log-rank test. Results: Median age was 74 years (65–92 years) and median time of follow-up was 69 months (0–134 months). 68.9% and 31.1% pts had Luminal A and B subtypes, respectively. 73.3% and 26.7% of pts had pT1 and pT2 tumors, respectively. 79.7% and 20.3% of pts had pN0 and pN1 status, respectively. Overall, median PFS was 33 months. No significant difference regarding PFS could be detected between Luminal A and B pts, between pT1 and pT2 tumors and between pN0 and pN1 status (p=0.458; 0.172; 0.156), respectively. Overall, median OS was not reached. No significant difference regarding OS could be detected between Luminal A and B pts, between pT1 and pT2 tumors and between pN0 and pN1 status (p=0.328; 0.951; 0.976), respectively. Conclusions: In bc pts ≥ 65 years treated with endocrine therapy only, neither the recently consented dichotomization into Luminal A and B subtypes nor pathologic tumor size and lymph node status could be confirmed to be discriminative as propagated in the 2011 St. Gallen Consensus for the overall bc population.