Therapy response and prognosis of patients with early breast cancer with low positivity for hormone receptors - An analysis of 2765 patients from neoadjuvant clinical trials.

Aim: To evaluate HER2-negative breast cancer (BC) with a low hormone receptor (HR) expression, with regard to pathological complete response (pCR) and survival, in comparison to triple-negative BC (TNBC) and strong HR-positive BC.

Methods: We compared negative [oestrogen (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) <1%], low-positive (ER and/or PR 1-9%) and strong-positive (ER or PR 10-100%) HR-expression in neoadjuvant clinical trial cohorts (n = 2765) of BC patients. End-points were disease-free survival (DFS), distant-disease free survival (DDFS) and overall survival (OS).

Evaluation of soluble carbonic anhydrase IX as predictive marker for efficacy of bevacizumab: A biomarker analysis from the geparquinto phase III neoadjuvant breast cancer trial.

We analyzed the predictive potential of pretreatment soluble carbonic anhydrase IX levels (sCAIX) for the efficacy of bevacizumab in the phase III neoadjuvant GeparQuinto trial. sCAIX was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Correlations between sCAIX and pathological complete response (pCR), disease-free and overall survival (DFS, OS) were assessed with logistic and Cox proportional hazard regression models using bootstrapping for robust estimates and internal validation.

A Submammarian Approach for Cosmetically Improved Implantation of Deep Brain Stimulation Generators.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) indications include movement disorders, psychiatric affections, or epilepsy in which patients risk social isolation heightened by abnormal motions or behavioral patterns. Further stigmatization after DBS surgery from head shaving, visible scarring, or disfigurement from bulky lead insertion points should be avoided.

Objective: We present a cosmetically optimized, adapted submammarian approach for DBS neurostimulator implantation that leaves the décolletage untouched.

Prognostic Impact of Circulating Tumor Cells for Breast Cancer Patients Treated in the Neoadjuvant "Geparquattro" Trial.

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic impact of circulating tumor cells (CTC) detected in patients with operable or locally advanced breast cancer before and after neoadjuvant therapy (NT) within the clinical trial GeparQuattro. Data on CTCs enumerated with the CellSearch system were available for 213 and 207 patients before and after NT, respectively. Associations of CTCs with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by nonparametric Kaplan-Meier estimates and parametric Cox regression.

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes: A Predictive and Prognostic Biomarker in Neoadjuvant-Treated HER2-Positive Breast Cancer.

Purpose: We elucidated the value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) as an independent predictor for pathologic complete response (pCR) rate and as a prognostic marker for disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting.

Experimental Design: We evaluated stromal TILs in 498 HER2-positive breast cancer samples of the neoadjuvant GeparQuattro (G4) and GeparQuinto (G5) trials. Levels of TILs were determined as a continuous parameter per 10% increase and as lymphocyte-predominant breast cancer (LPBC; ≥ 60% TILs), and correlated with pCR rate and DFS.

Prospective validation of immunological infiltrate for prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in HER2-negative breast cancer--a substudy of the neoadjuvant GeparQuinto trial.

Introduction: We have recently described an increased lymphocytic infiltration rate in breast carcinoma tissue is a significant response predictor for anthracycline/taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). The aim of this study was to prospectively validate the tumor-associated lymphocyte infiltrate as predictive marker for response to anthracycline/taxane-based NACT.

Patients And Methods: The immunological infiltrate was prospectively evaluated in a total of 313 core biopsies from HER2 negative patients of the multicenter PREDICT study, a substudy of the neoadjuvant GeparQuinto study.

Re-Challenging Taxanes in Recurrent Breast Cancer in Patients Treated with (Neo-)Adjuvant Taxane-Based Therapy.

SUMMARY: Background: Docetaxel and paclitaxel are among the most active substances for the treatment of breast cancer. As both drugs are used today in adjuvant regimens, efficacy data from pivotal trials in the metastatic setting in taxane-naive populations cannot reliably be used as references. Patients and Methods: The Taxane Re-Challenge Cohort Study identified participants from 6 prospective (neo-)adjuvant taxane-based studies with recurrent disease and collected data on their subsequent treatment.

Responsiveness of adjacent ductal carcinoma in situ and changes in HER2 status after neoadjuvant chemotherapy/trastuzumab treatment in early breast cancer--results from the GeparQuattro study (GBG 40).

Adjacent ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is found in approximately 45% of invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC) of the breast. Pure DCIS overexpresses HER2 in approximately 45%. There is uncertainty whether adjacent DCIS impacts on the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab as well as whether HER2 expression in IDC component or adjacent DCIS changes throughout treatment.

Detection and HER2 expression of circulating tumor cells: prospective monitoring in breast cancer patients treated in the neoadjuvant GeparQuattro trial.

Purpose: This study was aimed at detecting and characterizing circulating tumor cells (CTC) before and after neoadjuvant therapy (NT) in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer.

Experimental Design: The clinical trial GeparQuattro incorporated NT approaches (epirubicin/cyclophosphamide prior to randomization to docetaxel alone, docetaxel in combination with capecitabine, or docetaxel followed by capecitabine) and additional trastuzumab treatment for patients with HER2-positive tumors. We used the Food and Drug Administration-approved CellSearch system for CTC detection and evaluation of HER2 expression and developed HER2 immunoscoring for CTC.