Genomic characterisation of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer arising in very young women.

BACKGROUND: Very young premenopausal women diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+HER2-) early breast cancer (EBC) have higher rates of recurrence and death for reasons that remain largely unexplained. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Genomic sequencing was applied to HR+HER2- tumours from patients enrolled in the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT) to determine genomic drivers that are enriched in young premenopausal women. Genomic alterations were characterised using next-generation sequencing from a subset of 1276 patients (deep targeted sequencing, n = 1258; whole-exome sequencing in a young-age, case-control subsample, n = 82). We defined copy number (CN) subgroups and assessed for features suggestive of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). Genomic alteration frequencies were compared between young premenopausal women (<40 years) and older premenopausal women (≥40 years), and assessed for associations with distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Younger women (<40 years, n = 359) compared with older women (≥40 years, n = 917) had significantly higher frequencies of mutations in GATA3 (19% versus 16%) and CN amplifications (CNAs) (47% versus 26%), but significantly lower frequencies of mutations in PIK3CA (32% versus 47%), CDH1 (3% versus 9%), and MAP3K1 (7% versus 12%). Additionally, they had significantly higher frequencies of features suggestive of HRD (27% versus 21%) and a higher proportion of PIK3CA mutations with concurrent CNAs (23% versus 11%). Genomic features suggestive of HRD, PIK3CA mutations with CNAs, and CNAs were associated with significantly worse DRFI and OS compared with those without these features. These poor prognostic features were enriched in younger patients: present in 72% of patients aged <35 years, 54% aged 35-39 years, and 40% aged ≥40 years. Poor prognostic features [n = 584 (46%)] versus none [n = 692 (54%)] had an 8-year DRFI of 84% versus 94% and OS of 88% versus 96%. Younger women (<40 years) had the poorest outcomes: 8-year DRFI 74% versus 85% and OS 80% versus 93%, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results provide insights into genomic alterations that are enriched in young women with HR+HER2- EBC, provide rationale for genomic subgrouping, and highlight priority molecular targets for future clinical trials.

Continuous versus intermittent extended adjuvant letrozole for breast cancer: final results of randomized phase III SOLE (Study of Letrozole Extension) and SOLE Estrogen Substudy.

BACKGROUND: Late recurrences in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancers remain an important challenge. Avoidance or delayed development of resistance represents the main objective in extended endocrine therapy (ET). In animal models, resistance was reversed with restoration of circulating estrogen levels during interruption of letrozole treatment. This phase III, randomized, open-label Study of Letrozole Extension (SOLE) studied the effect of extended intermittent letrozole treatment in comparison with continuous letrozole. In parallel, the SOLE estrogen substudy (SOLE-EST) analyzed the levels of estrogen during the interruption of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: SOLE enrolled 4884 postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, lymph node-positive, operable breast cancer between December 2007 and October 2012 and among them, 104 patients were enrolled in SOLE-EST. They must have undergone local treatment and have completed 4-6 years of adjuvant ET. Patients were randomized between continuous letrozole (2.5 mg/day orally for 5 years) and intermittent letrozole treatment (2.5 mg/day for 9 months followed by a 3-month interruption in years 1-4 and then 2.5 mg/day during all of year 5). RESULTS: Intention-to-treat population included 4851 women in SOLE (n = 2425 in the intermittent and n = 2426 in the continuous letrozole groups) and 103 women in SOLE-EST (n = 78 in the intermittent and n = 25 in the continuous letrozole groups). After a median follow-up of 84 months, 7-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 81.4% in the intermittent group and 81.5% in the continuous group (hazard ratio: 1.03, 95% confidence interval: 0.91-1.17). Reported adverse events were similar in both groups. Circulating estrogen recovery was demonstrated within 6 weeks after the stop of letrozole treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Extended adjuvant ET by intermittent administration of letrozole did not improve DFS compared with continuous use, despite the recovery of circulating estrogen levels. The similar DFS coupled with previously reported quality-of-life advantages suggest intermittent extended treatment is a valid option for patients who require or prefer a treatment interruption.

Concurrent and sequential initiation of ovarian function suppression with chemotherapy in premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer: an exploratory analysis of TEXT and SOFT.

BACKGROUND: Recent breast cancer treatment guidelines recommend that higher-risk premenopausal patients should receive ovarian function suppression (OFS) as part of adjuvant endocrine therapy. If chemotherapy is also given, it is uncertain whether to select concurrent or sequential OFS initiation. DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed 1872 patients enrolled in the randomized phase III TEXT and SOFT trials who received adjuvant chemotherapy for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and upon randomization to an OFS-containing adjuvant endocrine therapy, initiated gonadotropin-releasing-hormone-agonist triptorelin. Breast cancer-free interval (BCFI) was compared between patients who received OFS concurrently with chemotherapy in TEXT (n = 1242) versus sequentially post-chemotherapy in SOFT (n = 630). Because timing of trial enrollment relative to adjuvant chemotherapy differed, we implemented landmark analysis re-defining BCFI beginning 1 year after final dose of chemotherapy (median, 15.5 and 8.1 months from enrollment to landmark in TEXT and SOFT, respectively). As a non-randomized treatment comparison, we implemented comparative-effectiveness propensity score methodology with weighted Cox modeling. RESULTS: Distributions of several clinico-pathologic characteristics differed between groups. Patients who were premenopausal post-chemotherapy in SOFT were younger on average. The median duration of adjuvant chemotherapy was 18 weeks in both groups. There were 231 (12%) BC events after post-landmark median follow-up of about 5 years. Concurrent use of triptorelin with chemotherapy was not associated with a significant difference in post-landmark BCFI compared with sequential triptorelin post-chemotherapy, either in the overall population (HR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.72-1.72; P = 0.72; 4-year BCFI 89% in both groups), or in the subgroup of 692 women <40 years at diagnosis (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 0.69-1.84) who are less likely to develop chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea. CONCLUSION: Based on comparative-effectiveness modeling of TEXT and SOFT after about 5 years median follow-up, with limited statistical power especially for the subgroup <40 years, neither detrimental nor beneficial effect of concurrent administration of OFS with chemotherapy on the efficacy of adjuvant therapy that includes chemotherapy was detected. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT00066690 and NCT00066703.

Do all patients with advanced HER2 positive breast cancer need upfront-chemo when receiving trastuzumab? Randomized phase III trial SAKK 22/99.

Background: HER2-targeted therapy plus chemotherapy is standard treatment in advanced HER2+ breast cancer. Trastuzumab alone followed by addition of chemotherapy at disease progression versus upfront combination therapy has not been elucidated. Patients and methods: One-hundred seventy-five patients with measurable/evaluable HER2+ advanced disease without previous HER2-directed therapy were randomized to trastuzumab alone followed, at disease progression, by the combination with chemotherapy (Arm A) or upfront trastuzumab plus chemotherapy (Arm B). Chemotherapy could be stopped after ≥6 cycles in responding patients, trastuzumab was continued until progression. The primary endpoint of this superiority trial was time to progression (TTP) on combined trastuzumab-chemotherapy (Combination-TTP) in both arms. Secondary endpoints included response rate, TTP, overall survival, quality of life and toxicity. Results: Combination-TTP was longer than expected in both arms, 12.2 months in Arm A and 10.3 months in Arm B and not significantly different (hazard ratio [HR] 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-1.1; P =0.1). Overall survival was also not significantly different (HR 0.9; 95% CI 0.6-1.5; P = 0.55). In Arm A, the median TTP before introduction of chemotherapy was 3.7 months (95% CI 2.3-5.4), yet at 2 years 6% of patients were still on trastuzumab alone. Patients without visceral disease had a Combination-TTP of 21.8 months in arm A, compared with 10.1 months in arm B (unplanned analysis HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-4.2, P = 0.03). Patients with visceral disease showed no difference. Toxicity was chemotherapy-related. Conclusion: The outcome of patients receiving sequential trastuzumab-chemotherapy or upfront combination was similar. We failed to demonstrate superiority of the sequential approach. These results nevertheless suggest chemotherapy and its toxicity can be deferred, especially in patients with indolent, non-visceral disease. Despite a larger non-inferiority confirmatory study would be needed, these findings represent an additional proof of concept that de-escalation strategies can be discussed in individual patients.

Improved prognosis of young patients with breast cancer undergoing breast-conserving surgery.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate how breast cancer prognosis has evolved over time in young women treated with breast-conserving surgery (BCS). METHODS: Data from patients younger than 40 years who had BCS and whole-breast radiotherapy in a single cancer centre between 1997 and 2010 were analysed. The patients were followed until 2016. Endpoints were local recurrence, any breast cancer-related event and death from any cause. RESULTS: A total of 1331 patients were included in the study. After a median follow-up of 9·3 years, 114 local recurrences, 289 breast cancer-related events and 138 deaths had occurred. Women were divided into three groups of similar size based on tertiles of the date of diagnosis: 1997-2002 (524 patients), 2003-2005 (350) and 2006-2010 (457). The risk of local recurrence was 1·42 per 100 person-years in women diagnosed in the first interval, 0·85 per 100 person-years in the second and 0·48 per 100 person-years in the third (P for trend = 0·028). The respective values were 3·01, 2·52 and 2·07 per 100 person-years for any breast cancer-related event (P = 0·004), and 1·59, 1·22 and 0·64 per 100 person-years for death (P = 0·003). Each passing year was associated with a decreasing risk of local recurrence (hazard ratio (HR) 0·93, 95 per cent c.i. 0·87 to 1·00), any breast cancer-related event (HR 0·94, 0·91 to 0·98) and death (HR 0·89, 0·83 to 0·94). A major improvement in prognosis was observed after 2005, when the classification of breast cancer molecular subtypes and use of trastuzumab were implemented in routine clinical practice. CONCLUSION: In the past two decades, both local control and overall prognosis have improved significantly in young women (aged less than 40 years) with breast cancer who undergo BCS.

Clinical validity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes analysis in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Although tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been associated with a favorable prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, this marker is not currently considered robust enough for entering the clinical practice. In the present study, we assessed the clinical validity of the guidelines recently issued by the International TIL Working Group in a large retrospective series of well-annotated TNBC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: TILs were evaluated in all the full-face H&E sections from 897 consecutive TNBC (i.e. tumors with <1% of ER and PgR immunoreactivity and absence of HER2 overexpression or amplification) patients diagnosed and treated at the European Institute of Oncology between 1995 and 2010 (median follow-up 8.2 years, range 6 months to 18 years). All mononuclear cells were evaluated in the stromal area within the borders of the invasive tumor, reported as a percentage value and treated as a continuous variable in survival analysis. RESULTS: The median percentage of TILs was 20%, and 21.9% of the cases had ≥50% (lymphocyte predominant breast cancer, LPBC) TILs. At univariable survival analysis, TILs were a significant predictor of better disease-free survival (DFS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS) and overall survival (OS) (P < 0.0001). Multivariable analysis confirmed that each 10% increase in TILs strongly predicted better survival, independent of patients' age, lymph node status, tumor size, histological grade, peritumoral vascular invasion and Ki-67 labeling index. Patients with LPBC had a 10-year survival rate of 71%, 84% and 96% for DFS, DDFS and OS, respectively. Stratified analysis revealed a positive correlation between TILs and OS across all the subgroups analyzed. CONCLUSION: Our data support the analytical validity of the recently issued TILs evaluation guidelines in the clinical practice.

Preoperative versus postoperative docetaxel-cisplatin-fluorouracil (TCF) chemotherapy in locally advanced resectable gastric carcinoma: 10-year follow-up of the SAKK 43/99 phase III trial.

BACKGROUND: Fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer has been reported to be effective by several meta-analyses. Perioperative chemotherapy in locally advanced resectable gastric cancer (RGC) has been reported improving survival by two large randomized trials and recent meta-analyses but the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and optimal regimen remains to be determined. We compared a neoadjuvant with adjuvant docetaxel-based regimen in a prospective randomized phase III trial, of which we present the 10-year follow-up data. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with cT3-4 anyN M0 or anyT cN1-3 M0 gastric carcinoma, staged with endoscopic ultrasound, computed tomography, bone scan, and laparoscopy, were assigned to receive four 21-day/cycles of docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) day 1, cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) day 1, and fluorouracil 300 mg/m(2)/day over days 1-14, either before (arm A) or after (arm B) gastrectomy. Event-free survival was the primary end point, whereas secondary end points included overall survival, toxicity, down-staging, pathological response, quality of life, and feasibility of adjuvant chemotherapy. RESULTS: This trial was activated in November 1999 and closed in November 2005 due to insufficient accrual. Of the 70 enrolled patients, 69 were randomized, 34 to arm A and 35 to arm B. No difference in EFS (2.5 years in both arms) or OS (4.3 versus 3.7 years, in arms A and B, respectively) was found. A higher dose intensity of chemotherapy was observed in arm A and more frequent chemotherapy-related serious adverse events occurred in arm B. Surgery was safe after preoperative chemotherapy. A 12% pathological complete response was observed in arm A. CONCLUSION: Docetaxel/cisplatin/fluorouracil chemotherapy is promising in preoperative setting of locally advanced RGC. The early stopping could mask the real effectiveness of neoadjuvant treatment. However, the complete pathological tumour responses, feasibility, and safe surgery warrant further investigation of a taxane-based regimen in the preoperative setting.

Tailoring therapies--improving the management of early breast cancer: St Gallen International Expert Consensus on the Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer 2015.

The 14th St Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference (2015) reviewed substantial new evidence on locoregional and systemic therapies for early breast cancer. Further experience has supported the adequacy of tumor margins defined as 'no ink on invasive tumor or DCIS' and the safety of omitting axillary dissection in specific cohorts. Radiotherapy trials support irradiation of regional nodes in node-positive disease. Considering subdivisions within luminal disease, the Panel was more concerned with indications for the use of specific therapies, rather than surrogate identification of intrinsic subtypes as measured by multiparameter molecular tests. For the treatment of HER2-positive disease in patients with node-negative cancers up to 1 cm, the Panel endorsed a simplified regimen comprising paclitaxel and trastuzumab without anthracycline as adjuvant therapy. For premenopausal patients with endocrine responsive disease, the Panel endorsed the role of ovarian function suppression with either tamoxifen or exemestane for patients at higher risk. The Panel noted the value of an LHRH agonist given during chemotherapy for premenopausal women with ER-negative disease in protecting against premature ovarian failure and preserving fertility. The Panel noted increasing evidence for the prognostic value of commonly used multiparameter molecular markers, some of which also carried prognostic information for late relapse. The Panel noted that the results of such tests, where available, were frequently used to assist decisions about the inclusion of cytotoxic chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with luminal disease, but noted that threshold values had not been established for this purpose for any of these tests. Multiparameter molecular assays are expensive and therefore unavailable in much of the world. The majority of new breast cancer cases and breast cancer deaths now occur in less developed regions of the world. In these areas, less expensive pathology tests may provide valuable information. The Panel recommendations on treatment are not intended to apply to all patients, but rather to establish norms appropriate for the majority. Again, economic considerations may require that less expensive and only marginally less effective therapies may be necessary in less resourced areas. Panel recommendations do not imply unanimous agreement among Panel members. Indeed, very few of the 200 questions received 100% agreement from the Panel. In the text below, wording is intended to convey the strength of Panel support for each recommendation, while details of Panel voting on each question are available in supplementary Appendix S2, available at Annals of Oncology online.

Risk of subsequent in situ and invasive breast cancer in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive ductal carcinoma in situ.

BACKGROUND: To assess the prognostic role of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified patients with HER2-positive DCIS among a population of 1667 cases, prospectively diagnosed and surgically treated at the European Institute of Oncology from 1996 to 2008. Rates of subsequent DCIS or invasive cancer in HER2-positive disease were estimated. We evaluated Cumulative Incidence of In Situ Breast Cancer Recurrence (isBCR), INvasive Breast Cancer Recurrence (IBCR) and any Breast Cancer Recurrence (BCR). isBCR, IBCR and BCR were defined as the time from surgery to breast cancer recurrence as first event (in situ, invasive or both, respectively) or last visit in case of no events. RESULTS: We identified 560 (33.5%) patients with HER2-positive DCIS. The median follow-up was 7.6 years (interquartile range 5.9-9.5). We observed 422 events out of 1667 patients, with 141 in situ recurrences, 201 invasive recurrences and 80 other events (64 second primaries and 16 deaths). The 10-year isBCR proportions were 11.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 9.0% to 15.4%] in the HER2-positive group and 8.8% (95% CI 6.9% to 11.0%) in the HER2-negative group (Gray test, P = 0.010). At multivariable analysis, the adjusted risk of isBCR was higher in the HER2-positive group than in the HER2-negative group [hazard ratio (HR) HER2 positive versus negative: 1.59 (95% CI 1.06-2.39)]. We observed significant differences both in BCR and isBCR for patients treated by quadrantectomy without radiotherapy versus patients treated with radiotherapy [adjusted HR HER2 positive versus negative: 1.53 (95% CI 1.07-2.18) and adjusted HR HER2 positive versus negative: 2.18 (95% CI 2.18-3.69), respectively]. CONCLUSION: HER2 overexpression predicts an increased risk of isBCR. Radiotherapy reduces local failure rates in HER2-positive DCIS.

Changes in PgR and Ki-67 in residual tumour and outcome of breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on the prognostic value of changes in the biological features of residual tumours following neoadjuvant therapies in breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected information through the institutional clinical database on all consecutive breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO), Milan, Italy, between 1999 and 2011. We selected patients who did not achieve pathological complete response at final surgery. All patients had a pathological evaluation, including ER, PgR, HER2 protein and Ki-67 expression carried out at the IEO both at diagnostic core biopsy and at final surgery. RESULTS: We identified a total of 904 patients. The 5% of patients who were ER positive at diagnostic biopsy had ER-negative residual tumour at final surgery. For PgR expression, 67% of the patients, whose tumours had a PgR >20% at diagnostic biopsy had a PgR <20% at final surgery. The Ki-67 expression changed from >20% to <20% in 40% of the patients. At the multivariate analysis, the decrease of PgR-immunoreactive cells correlated with improved outcome in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) [hazard ratio (HR) 0.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54-1.00, P 0.046]. In addition, the decrease of Ki-67 expression to <20% of the cells at final surgery was found to be associated with better outcome both in terms of DFS (HR 0.52; 95% CI 0.40-0.68 P < 0.0001) and overall survival (HR 0.45; 95% CI 0.32-0.64, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The decrease of PgR and Ki-67 expression after preoperative chemotherapy has a prognostic role in breast cancer patients with residual disease.

Outcomes of special histotypes of breast cancer after adjuvant endocrine therapy with letrozole or tamoxifen in the monotherapy cohort of the BIG 1-98 trial.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the outcomes of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, early breast cancer with special histotypes (mucinous, tubular, or cribriform) enrolled in the monotherapy cohort of the BIG 1-98 trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The intention-to-treat BIG 1-98 monotherapy cohort (5 years of therapy with tamoxifen or letrozole) included 4922 women, of whom 4091 had central pathology review. Histotype groups were defined as: mucinous (N = 100), tubular/cribriform (N = 83), ductal (N = 3257), and other (N = 651). Of 183 women with either mucinous or tubular/cribriform tumors, 96 were randomly assigned to letrozole and 87 to tamoxifen. Outcomes assessed were disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), breast cancer-free interval (BCFI), and distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI). Median follow-up in the analytic cohort was 8.1 years. RESULTS: Women with tubular/cribriform breast cancer had the best outcomes for all end points compared with the other three histotypes, and had less breast cancer recurrence (97.5% 5-year BCFI) than those with mucinous (93.5%), ductal (88.9%), or other (89.9%) histotypes. Patients with mucinous or tubular/cribriform carcinoma had better DRFI (5-year rates 97.8% and 98.8%, respectively) than those with ductal (90.9%) or other (92.1%) carcinomas. Within the subgroup of women with special histotypes, we observed a nonsignificant increase in the hazard of breast cancer recurrence with letrozole [hazard (letrozole versus tamoxifen): 3.31, 95% confidence interval 0.94-11.7; P = 0.06]. CONCLUSIONS: Women with mucinous or tubular/cribriform breast cancer have better outcomes than those with other histotypes, although the observation is based on a limited number of events. In postmenopausal women with these histotypes, the magnitude of the letrozole advantage compared with tamoxifen may not be as large in patients with mucinous or tubular/cribriform disease. CLINICALTRIALSGOV: NCT00004205.

The AURORA initiative for metastatic breast cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality among women in the Western world. To date most research efforts have focused on the molecular analysis of the primary tumour to dissect the genotypes of the disease. However, accumulating evidence supports a molecular evolution of breast cancer during its life cycle, with metastatic lesions acquiring new molecular aberrations. Recognising this critical gap of knowledge, the Breast International Group is launching AURORA, a large, multinational, collaborative metastatic breast cancer molecular screening programme. Approximately 1300 patients with metastatic breast cancer who have received no more than one line of systemic treatment for advanced disease will, after giving informed consent, donate archived primary tumour tissue, as well as will donate tissue collected prospectively from the biopsy of metastatic lesions and blood. Both tumour tissue types, together with a blood sample, will then be subjected to next generation sequencing for a panel of cancer-related genes. The patients will be treated at the discretion of their treating physicians per standard local practice, and they will be followed for clinical outcome for 10 years. Alternatively, depending on the molecular profiles found, patients will be directed to innovative clinical trials assessing molecularly targeted agents. Samples of outlier patients considered as 'exceptional responders' or as 'rapid progressors' based on the clinical follow-up will be subjected to deeper molecular characterisation in order to identify new prognostic and predictive biomarkers. AURORA, through its innovative design, will shed light onto some of the unknown areas of metastatic breast cancer, helping to improve the clinical outcome of breast cancer patients.

Symptoms of endocrine treatment and outcome in the BIG 1-98 study.

There may be a relationship between the incidence of vasomotor and arthralgia/myalgia symptoms and treatment outcomes for postmenopausal breast cancer patients with endocrine-responsive disease who received adjuvant letrozole or tamoxifen. Data on patients randomized into the monotherapy arms of the BIG 1-98 clinical trial who did not have either vasomotor or arthralgia/myalgia/carpal tunnel (AMC) symptoms reported at baseline, started protocol treatment and were alive and disease-free at the 3-month landmark (n = 4,798) and at the 12-month landmark (n = 4,682) were used for this report. Cohorts of patients with vasomotor symptoms, AMC symptoms, neither, or both were defined at both 3 and 12 months from randomization. Landmark analyses were performed for disease-free survival (DFS) and for breast cancer free interval (BCFI), using regression analysis to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI). Median follow-up was 7.0 years. Reporting of AMC symptoms was associated with better outcome for both the 3- and 12-month landmark analyses [e.g., 12-month landmark, HR (95 % CI) for DFS = 0.65 (0.49-0.87), and for BCFI = 0.70 (0.49-0.99)]. By contrast, reporting of vasomotor symptoms was less clearly associated with DFS [12-month DFS HR (95 % CI) = 0.82 (0.70-0.96)] and BCFI (12-month DFS HR (95 % CI) = 0.97 (0.80-1.18). Interaction tests indicated no effect of treatment group on associations between symptoms and outcomes. While reporting of AMC symptoms was clearly associated with better DFS and BCFI, the association between vasomotor symptoms and outcome was less clear, especially with respect to breast cancer-related events.

The choice of whether to participate in a phase I clinical trial: increasing the awareness of patients with cancer. An exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we found that patients who were offered the possibility of participation in a clinical trial had unexpressed concerns and fears that prevented them from making free or fully knowledgeable choices about their trial participation. In a selected population of patients who were offered participation in a phase I trial, we prospectively investigated whether a face-to-face discussion about their unexpressed fears might lead to a more conscious decision about whether to accept/refuse participation in the trial. METHODS: After the presentation of the trial, a questionnaire was administered to assess the presence of specific fears. Before the patients decided whether to participate in the trial, they discussed any fears that they had; finally, the impact of the discussion on the patients' choice to participate was evaluated. RESULTS: The majority (86%) of the patients thought that physicians conduct clinical trials for scientific interest, 13% felt exploited as 'guinea pigs' and 20% believed they were offered participation because they had no further hope for improvement. These existing fears were not elicited during the trial interview because the patients were themselves unaware of having them (28%) and because of fear of the doctors (3%). The possibility of discussing these fears was felt as an opportunity and made patients feel more conscious (92%) and freer (97%) when making their choice. CONCLUSIONS: Recognising and discussing misconceptions and fears, often unexpressed, make patients freer and more aware when facing the choice of whether or not \to participate in a phase I clinical trial.

Personalizing the treatment of women with early breast cancer: highlights of the St Gallen International Expert Consensus on the Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer 2013.

The 13th St Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference (2013) Expert Panel reviewed and endorsed substantial new evidence on aspects of the local and regional therapies for early breast cancer, supporting less extensive surgery to the axilla and shorter durations of radiation therapy. It refined its earlier approach to the classification and management of luminal disease in the absence of amplification or overexpression of the Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2) oncogene, while retaining essentially unchanged recommendations for the systemic adjuvant therapy of HER2-positive and 'triple-negative' disease. The Panel again accepted that conventional clinico-pathological factors provided a surrogate subtype classification, while noting that in those areas of the world where multi-gene molecular assays are readily available many clinicians prefer to base chemotherapy decisions for patients with luminal disease on these genomic results rather than the surrogate subtype definitions. Several multi-gene molecular assays were recognized as providing accurate and reproducible prognostic information, and in some cases prediction of response to chemotherapy. Cost and availability preclude their application in many environments at the present time. Broad treatment recommendations are presented. Such recommendations do not imply that each Panel member agrees: indeed, among more than 100 questions, only one (trastuzumab duration) commanded 100% agreement. The various recommendations in fact carried differing degrees of support, as reflected in the nuanced wording of the text below and in the votes recorded in supplementary Appendix S1, available at Annals of Oncology online. Detailed decisions on treatment will as always involve clinical consideration of disease extent, host factors, patient preferences and social and economic constraints.

Effect of low-dose tamoxifen after surgical excision of ductal intraepithelial neoplasia: results of a large retrospective monoinstitutional cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Postsurgical treatment of ductal intraepithelial neoplasia (DIN) with standard doses of tamoxifen has not reached a consensus yet. Given positive results of low-dose tamoxifen on breast cancer biomarkers modulation, we analyzed a large cohort of DIN patients treated with low-dose tamoxifen or no treatment as per institutional guidelines. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All consecutive women operated on at the European Institute of Oncology for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive DIN (474 treated with low-dose tamoxifen and 509 untreated patients) were followed up for a median of 7 years. RESULTS: Compared with untreated patients, a significant 30% reduction in breast cancer risk was observed on low-dose tamoxifen with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.70 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.51-0.94], with a greater benefit in postmenopausal (HR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.34-0.94) than in premenopausal women (HR = 0.79; 95% CI 0.54-1.17). Treated patients with ER and progesterone receptor (PgR) >50% DIN had a lower incidence of breast events than untreated ones (HR = 0.61; 95% CI 0.40-0.94), whereas no protective effect has been observed in patients with ER or PgR <50% DIN. Drug discontinuation resulted in a doubled risk of recurrence in premenopausal women only (HR = 1.95; 95% CI 0.98-3.89). No excess of endometrial cancer occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Low-dose tamoxifen is a promising and safe strategy for highly endocrine responsive DIN. Treatment adherence is crucial in premenopausal women. A definitive trial is ongoing.

Progesterone receptor loss identifies Luminal B breast cancer subgroups at higher risk of relapse.

BACKGROUND: The immunohistochemical (IHC) evaluation of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), Ki-67 and HER2 is considered a surrogate means for identifying the molecular subtypes of breast cancer with different prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We explored patterns of recurrence in 4837 women with breast cancer defined as Luminal B (ER-positive and/or PgR-positive, HER2 positive and/or Ki-67≥14%) by IHC classification. We evaluated four subgroups within the Luminal B subtype according to HER2 expression and PgR status. RESULTS: Patients within the ER+/PgR+/HER2- subgroup presented a 5-year breast cancer-related survival (BCS) of 97% (95% confidence interval (CI), 96-97) and overall survival (OS) of 95% [95% CI, 95-96], the best survivals of the Luminal B subgroups. In the multivariate analysis, the ER+/PgR-/HER2- subgroup was associated with a reduced BCS (HR 1.71; 95%CI, 1.25-2.35) and OS (HR 1.47; 95%CI, 1.10-1.96) when compared with the ER+/PgR+/HER2- subgroup. Also patients within the ER+/PgR-/HER2+ subgroup had a reduced BCS (HR 1.93; 95%CI, 1.32-2.83) and OS (HR 1.62; 95%CI, 1.14-2.30) when compared with ER+/PgR+/HER2- subgroup. On the other hand, no statistically significant differences were found with regard to BCS and OS among patients with ER+/PgR+/HER2+ and patients with ER+/PgR+/HER2- disease. CONCLUSIONS: PgR loss identifies Luminal B breast cancer subgroups at higher risk of relapse and death, both with HER-2-positive and HER-2-negative disease.

Subjective cognitive complaints one year after ceasing adjuvant endocrine treatment for early-stage breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: In the BIG 1-98 trial objective cognitive function improved in postmenopausal women 1 year after cessation of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer. This report evaluates changes in subjective cognitive function (SCF). METHODS: One hundred postmenopausal women, randomised to receive 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen, letrozole, or a sequence of the two, completed self-reported measures on SCF, psychological distress, fatigue, and quality of life during the fifth year of trial treatment (year 5) and 1 year after treatment completion (year 6). Changes between years 5 and 6 were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Subjective cognitive function and its correlates were explored. RESULTS: Subjective cognitive function and the other patient-reported outcomes did not change significantly after cessation of endocrine therapy with the exception of improvement for hot flushes (P=0.0005). No difference in changes was found between women taking tamoxifen or letrozole. Subjective cognitive function was the only psychosocial outcome with a substantial correlation between year 5 and 6 (Spearman's R=0.80). Correlations between SCF and the other patient-reported outcomes were generally low. CONCLUSION: Improved objective cognitive function but not SCF occur following cessation of adjuvant endocrine therapy in the BIG 1-98 trial. The substantial correlation of SCF scores over time may represent a stable attribute.