Prognostic Value of the Progesterone Receptor by Subtype in Patients with Estrogen Receptor-Positive, HER-2 Negative Breast Cancer.

Background: In estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) negative breast cancers, the progesterone receptor (PR) is an independent prognostic marker. Little is known about the prognostic value of PR by tumor grade. We assessed this in two independent datasets.

Tamoxifen Metabolism and Efficacy in Breast Cancer: A Prospective Multicenter Trial.

Levels of endoxifen, the most active metabolite of tamoxifen, vary by the highly polymorphic cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 enzyme. We prospectively investigated tamoxifen efficacy by serum endoxifen levels and the tamoxifen activity score (TAS). A prospective observational multicenter study included postmenopausal women with an estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer receiving first-line tamoxifen, 20 mg daily in the neoadjuvant or metastatic setting, recruited between February 2009 and May 2014.

Body mass index, age at breast cancer diagnosis, and breast cancer subtype: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Evidence suggests that premenopausal obesity decreases and postmenopausal obesity increases breast cancer risk. Because it is not well known whether this is subtype dependent, we studied the association between body mass index (BMI) and age at breast cancer diagnosis, or the probability of being diagnosed with a specific breast cancer phenotype, by menopausal status.

Methods: All patients with non-metastatic operable breast cancer from the University Hospital Leuven diagnosed between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2013 were included (n = 7020) in this cross-sectional study.

Reproductive profiles and risk of breast cancer subtypes: a multi-center case-only study.

Background: Previous studies have shown that reproductive factors are differentially associated with breast cancer (BC) risk by subtypes. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between reproductive factors and BC subtypes, and whether these vary by age at diagnosis.

Methods: We used pooled data on tumor markers (estrogen and progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)) and reproductive risk factors (parity, age at first full-time pregnancy (FFTP) and age at menarche) from 28,095 patients with invasive BC from 34 studies participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC).

Prognostic features of breast cancer differ between women in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium.

Objectives: Compared to European women, breast cancers in African women present at a younger age, with a higher tumor grade and are more often estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) negative. We here investigate the histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics (ER, PR and human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2)) and the proportion of triple negative (Tneg) invasive breast cancers from an unselected series of patients diagnosed in Kinshasa, and compare them to a population of Caucasian women with a palpable breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: From 2010 till 2013, during the first breast cancer awareness campaign, organized in Kinshasa, 87 patients were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

Prediction of non-sentinel lymph node involvement in breast cancer patients with a positive sentinel lymph node.

Completion axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) is the golden standard if breast cancer involves the sentinel lymph node (SLN). However, most non-sentinel lymph nodes (NSLN) are not involved, cALND has a considerable complication rate and does not improve outcome. We here present and validate our predictive model for positive NSLNs in the cALND if the SLN is positive.

Prognostic implications of lobular breast cancer histology: new insights from a single hospital cross-sectional study and SEER data.

Background: Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is generally believed to have an increased risk for late relapse compared to invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC). However, the study most often referred to is a chemotherapy trial that mainly included node positive patients. We hypothesize that nodal status may influence the hazard of relapse since time of diagnosis differently in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and ILC.

Breast cancer phenotype, nodal status and palpability may be useful in the detection of overdiagnosed screening-detected breast cancers.

Background: Breast cancer remains the leading cause of female cancer death despite improvements in treatment and screening. Screening is often criticized for leading to overdiagnosis and overtreatment. However, few have attempted to identify overdiagnosed cases.

The prognostic role of preoperative and (early) postoperatively change in CA15.3 serum levels in a single hospital cohort of primary operable breast cancers.

Measuring CA15.3 serum levels in the early breast cancer setting is not recommended by current ASCO guidelines. In this large single center study, we assess the prognostic value of preoperative (n = 3746), postoperative (n = 4049) and change in (n = 3252) CA15.

Update on triple-negative breast cancer: prognosis and management strategies.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease comprehending different orphan breast cancers simply defined by the absence of ER/PR/HER-2. Approximately 15%-20% of all breast cancers belong to this phenotype that has distinct risk factors, distinct molecular features, and a particular clinical presentation and outcome. All these features will be discussed in this review.

A critical review why assessment of steroid hormone receptors in breast cancer should be quantitative.

Steroid receptors have been around in the field of breast cancer for decades now. Still, controversy remains on how best to report steroid receptors. In this review, we will convince the reader why benefits outweigh pitfalls, when reporting steroid receptors in a quantitative rather than qualitative way.

Vitamin D status at breast cancer diagnosis: correlation with tumor characteristics, disease outcome, and genetic determinants of vitamin D insufficiency.

We correlated serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) (25OHD) levels with tumor characteristics and clinical disease outcome in breast cancer patients and assessed the impact of genetic determinants of vitamin D insufficiency. We collected serum from 1800 early breast cancer patients at diagnosis, measured 25OHD by radioimmunoassay (RIA), and determined genetic variants in vitamin D-related genes by Sequenom. Multivariable regression models were used to correlate 25OHD levels with tumor characteristics.

Applying the 2011 St Gallen panel of prognostic markers on a large single hospital cohort of consecutively treated primary operable breast cancers.

Background: Many easily measurable and readily available factors are now established as being prognostic in primary operable breast cancer. We here applied the 2011 St Gallen surrogate definition for breast cancer subclassification using tumor grade instead of Ki67.

Patients And Methods: Four thousand three hundred and eighteen consecutive patients who had surgery for primary operable breast cancer (1 January 2000 and 31 December 2009) in UZ Leuven excluding primary metastastic male breast cancers and those receiving neoadjuvant therapy.

Lobular and non-lobular breast cancers differ regarding axillary lymph node metastasis: a cross-sectional study on 4,292 consecutive patients.

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) accounts for 8-14% of all breast cancers and carries distinct prognostic and biologic implications. The goal of our study was to investigate the impact of lobular histology on axillary lymph node (ALN) involvement. This is a cross-sectional study of 4,292 consecutive patients surgically treated for breast carcinoma at the University Hospitals Leuven.

Short-Term Prognostic Index for Breast Cancer: NPI or Lpi.

Axillary lymph node involvement is an important prognostic factor for breast cancer survival but is confounded by the number of nodes examined. We compare the performance of the log odds prognostic index (Lpi), using a ratio of the positive versus negative lymph nodes, with the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) for short-term breast cancer specific disease free survival. A total of 1818 operable breast cancer patients treated in the University Hospital of Leuven between 2000 and 2005 were included.

Cancer prevalence in osteoporotic women with low serum vitamin D levels.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the role of vitamin D in cancer development in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.

Methods: A cross-sectional and in vitro study was carried out, with statistical analysis with odds ratios and 95% CIs presented. Human estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were studied in vitro.

Qualitative assessment of the progesterone receptor and HER2 improves the Nottingham Prognostic Index up to 5 years after breast cancer diagnosis.

Purpose: To investigate whether the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) can improve the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) in the classification of patients with primary operable breast cancer for disease-free survival (DFS).

Patients And Methods: The analysis is based on 1,927 patients with breast cancer treated between 2000 and 2005 at the University Hospitals, Leuven. We compared performances of NPI with and without ER, PR and/or HER2.

Short-term outcome of primary operated early breast cancer by hormone and HER-2 receptors.

Introduction: Prognostic subgroup classification of operable breast cancers using cDNA clustering of breast cancer-related genes resembles the classification based on the combined immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of the hormone and HER-2 receptors. We here report the short-term disease-free interval (DFI) of operable breast cancers by their joint hormone receptor/HER-2 phenotype.

Patients And Methods: Short-term follow-up (FU) of a prospective cohort of 1,958 breast-cancer patients primary operated at our institution between 2000 and 2005.