scholarly journals Panoptic View of Prognostic Models for Personalized Breast Cancer Management

Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1325
Author(s):  
Geetanjali Saini ◽  
Karuna Mittal ◽  
Padmashree Rida ◽  
Emiel A. M. Janssen ◽  
Keerthi Gogineni ◽  
...  

The efforts to personalize treatment for patients with breast cancer have led to a focus on the deeper characterization of genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity among breast cancers. Traditional pathology utilizes microscopy to profile the morphologic features and organizational architecture of tumor tissue for predicting the course of disease, and is the first-line set of guiding tools for customizing treatment decision-making. Currently, clinicians use this information, combined with the disease stage, to predict patient prognosis to some extent. However, tumoral heterogeneity stubbornly persists among patient subgroups delineated by these clinicopathologic characteristics, as currently used methodologies in diagnostic pathology lack the capability to discern deeper genotypic and subtler phenotypic differences among individual patients. Recent advancements in molecular pathology, however, are poised to change this by joining forces with multiple-omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) that provide a wealth of data about the precise molecular complement of each patient’s tumor. In addition, these technologies inform the drivers of disease aggressiveness, the determinants of therapeutic response, and new treatment targets in the individual patient. The tumor architecture information can be integrated with the knowledge of the detailed mutational, transcriptional, and proteomic phenotypes of cancer cells within individual tumors to derive a new level of biologic insight that enables powerful, data-driven patient stratification and customization of treatment for each patient, at each stage of the disease. This review summarizes the prognostic and predictive insights provided by commercially available gene expression-based tests and other multivariate or clinical -omics-based prognostic/predictive models currently under development, and proposes a more inclusive multiplatform approach to tackling the challenging heterogeneity of breast cancer to individualize its management. “The future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed.”-William Ford Gibson

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4233
Author(s):  
Joshua J. Li ◽  
Julia Y. Tsang ◽  
Gary M. Tse

The tumor microenvironment (TME) in breast cancer comprises local factors, cancer cells, immune cells and stromal cells of the local and distant tissues. The interaction between cancer cells and their microenvironment plays important roles in tumor proliferation, propagation and response to therapies. There is increasing research in exploring and manipulating the non-cancerous components of the TME for breast cancer treatment. As the TME is now increasingly recognized as a treatment target, its pathologic assessment has become a critical component of breast cancer management. The latest WHO classification of tumors of the breast listed stromal response pattern/fibrotic focus as a prognostic factor and includes recommendations on the assessment of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and PD-1/PD-L1 expression, with therapeutic implications. This review dissects the TME of breast cancer, describes pathologic assessment relevant for prognostication and treatment decision, and details therapeutic options that interacts with and/or exploits the TME in breast cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 107327482092063
Author(s):  
Cynthia Villarreal-Garza ◽  
Fernanda Mesa-Chavez ◽  
Edna Anakarenn Lopez-Martinez ◽  
Alan Fonseca ◽  
Claudia Pineda ◽  
...  

There is paucity of data regarding the knowledge and understanding of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) about their disease stage and treatment goals. This study assessed these patients’ awareness of MBC incurability, topics reviewed with their oncologist, perceptions of having enough knowledge to participate in treatment decision-making, most helpful information source, and satisfaction with the information they received. For this purpose, 185 patients with MBC who attended follow-up medical appointments at a Mexican referral cancer center completed a survey designed by the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. Clinical data were obtained from medical records. Descriptive statistics were applied, and associations between qualitative and quantitative variables were assessed with χ2 and Mann-Whitney U tests, respectively. Half (52%) of the patients were aware that their disease was incurable, while 31% were not sure, and 17% thought it was curable. Forty percent found it difficult to talk about treatments because they did not understand the options that were available to them. The medical staff was the most helpful information source for 74% of participants, and 64% scored their satisfaction with information ≥9 of 10. A significant association was found between higher satisfaction and knowing that MBC is incurable, as well as being older than 40 years. These results illustrate the significant lack of understanding patients with MBC have regarding their cancer, even when reporting high satisfaction with the provided information, and identify a critical need for improved patient education to enhance their comprehension and promote their participation in decision-making processes, treatment adherence, and, ultimately, outcomes.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary A. O'Brien ◽  
Timothy Whelan ◽  
Amiram Gafni ◽  
Cathy Charles ◽  
Peter Ellis

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (17) ◽  
pp. 2826-2839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Caputo ◽  
Daniela Cianniello ◽  
Antonio Giordano ◽  
Michela Piezzo ◽  
Maria Riemma ◽  
...  

The addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to hormonal therapy is often considered questionable in patients with estrogen receptor-positive early breast cancer. Low risk of disease relapse after endocrine treatment alone and/or a low sensitivity to chemotherapy are reasons behind not all patients benefit from chemotherapy. Most of the patients could be exposed to unnecessary treatment- related adverse events and health care costs when treatment decision-making is based only on classical clinical histological features. Gene expression profile has been developed to refine physician’s decision-making process and to tailor personalized treatment to patients. In particular, these tests are designed to spare patients the side effects of unnecessary treatment, and ensure that adjuvant chemotherapy is correctly recommended to patients with early breast cancer. In this review, we will discuss the main diagnostic tests and their potential clinical applications (Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, PAM50/Prosigna, EndoPredict, MapQuant Dx, IHC4, and Theros-Breast Cancer Gene Expression Ratio Assay).


2020 ◽  
pp. 000313482098487
Author(s):  
Melinda Wang ◽  
Julian Huang ◽  
Anees B. Chagpar

Background Patient and tumor characteristics often coincide with obesity, potentially affecting treatment decision-making in obese breast cancer patients. Independent of all of these factors, however, it is unclear whether obesity itself impacts the decision to offer patients undergoing mastectomy breast reconstruction, postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT), or neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We sought to determine whether implicit bias against obese breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy plays a role in their treatment. Methods Medical records of breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy from January 2010 to April 2018 from a single institution were retrospectively reviewed, separated into obese (BMI ≥30) and nonobese (BMI <30) categories, and compared using nonparametric statistical analyses. Results Of 972 patients, 291 (31.2%) were obese. Obese patients were more likely to have node-positive, triple-negative breast cancers ( P = .026) and were also more likely to have other comorbidities such as a history of smoking ( P = .026), hypertension ( P < .001), and diabetes ( P < .001). Receipt of immediate reconstruction and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy did not vary between obese and nonobese patients. While obese patients were more likely to undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy (26.5% vs. 18.1%, P = .004) and PMRT (33.0% vs. 23.4%, P = .003), this did not remain significant when controlling for comorbidities and clinicopathologic confounders. Conclusion Obese patients present with more aggressive tumors and often have concomitant comorbidities. Independent of these factors, however, differences in the treatment of patients undergoing mastectomy do not seem to be affected by an implicit bias against obese patients.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Padmanabhan ◽  
Hadeel Shafeeq Kheraldine ◽  
Nader Meskin ◽  
Semir Vranic ◽  
Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa

Breast cancer is one of the major causes of mortality in women worldwide. The most aggressive breast cancer subtypes are human epidermal growth factor receptor-positive (HER2+) and triple-negative breast cancers. Therapies targeting HER2 receptors have significantly improved HER2+ breast cancer patient outcomes. However, several recent studies have pointed out the deficiency of existing treatment protocols in combatting disease relapse and improving response rates to treatment. Overriding the inherent actions of the immune system to detect and annihilate cancer via the immune checkpoint pathways is one of the important hallmarks of cancer. Thus, restoration of these pathways by various means of immunomodulation has shown beneficial effects in the management of various types of cancers, including breast. We herein review the recent progress in the management of HER2+ breast cancer via HER2-targeted therapies, and its association with the programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) axis. In order to link research in the areas of medicine and mathematics and point out specific opportunities for providing efficient theoretical analysis related to HER2+ breast cancer management, we also review mathematical models pertaining to the dynamics of HER2+ breast cancer and immune checkpoint inhibitors.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teri L. Malo ◽  
Isaac Lipkus ◽  
Tobi Wilson ◽  
Hyo S. Han ◽  
Geza Acs ◽  
...  

Introduction. This study aimed to evaluate whether OncotypeDx test results predict receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients who received an OncotypeDx recurrence score (RS).Materials and Methods. Pathology records were used to identify breast cancer patients who had OncotypeDx testing between December 2004 and January 2009 (n=118). Patient sociodemographic information, tumor characteristics, RS, and treatment-specific data were collected via chart review. RS was classified as follows: low (RS≤17), intermediate (RS = 18–30), or high (RS≥31). Bivariate analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between adjuvant chemotherapy receipt and each sociodemographic and clinical characteristic; significant sociodemographic and clinical variables were included in a multivariable logistic regression model.Results. In multivariable analysis controlling for tumor size, histologic grade, and nuclear grade, only RS remained significantly associated with chemotherapy uptake. Relative to low RS, an intermediate (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 21.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.62–237.52) or high (AOR, 15.07; 95% CI, 1.28–288.21) RS was associated with a greater odds of chemotherapy uptake.Discussion. Results indicate that RS was significantly associated with adjuvant chemotherapy uptake, suggesting that OncotypeDx results were used to inform treatment decision making, although it is unclear if and how the information was conveyed to patients.


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