Impact of discordance in estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Ki-67 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer on survival.
e12079 Background: The expression status of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and Ki-67 antigen (Ki-67) divides breast cancer into different subtypes. Changes in these biomarkers during treatment alter the overall treatment decision and affect prognosis. To date, few studies have investigated the effects of changes in these biomarkers throughout neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on patient prognosis. Methods: A total of 482 patients who received NAC were enrolled. The expression of ER, PR and Ki-67 between pre- and posttherapy specimens was studied by immunohistochemical methods. Physical and imaging examinations based on the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors guidelines version 1.1 were utilized to assess the treatment response. The impact of these biomarkers status changes on survival was then tested for statistical significance using a Cox proportional hazards regression model for univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: The rate of discordance for ER, PR and Ki-67 was 10.37%, 17.01% and 77.39%, respectively, in which the PR positive-to-negative conversion was the most common change. A statistically significant differential overall survival (OS) related to biomarkers status throughout NAC (P<.01) was noted. The risk of death in patients with a PR positive-to-negative conversion was 6.58 times greater than that of stable PR expression (P=.002). The risk of disease recurrence in patients with increased Ki-67 expression was 1.91 times greater than that of stable Ki-67 expression (P=.02). Furthermore, we validated both of them as independent predictors of poor prognosis. Conclusions: We concluded that inconsistent expression of biomarkers can significantly affect patient prognosis. We suggest that biomarkers investigations during NAC may potentially improve patient management and survival. Survival result that compared with concordance and discondance in ER, PR and Ki-67. (N=482).*P<.05. [Table: see text]