Comparing the HER2 Status of the Primary Tumor to That of Disseminated Tumor Cells in Early Breast Cancer

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality in women globally. Despite advancements in systemic therapy, the risk of distant recurrence persists even after such treatment and may be linked to disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). Variability in molecular characteristics between primary tumo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2024-06, Vol.25 (11), p.5910
Main Authors: Volmer, Léa Louise, Dannehl, Dominik, Matovina, Sabine, Taran, Florin-Andrei, Walter, Christina Barbara, Wallwiener, Markus, Brucker, Sara Yvonne, Hartkopf, Andreas Daniel, Engler, Tobias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics
Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - genetics
Breast Neoplasms - metabolism
Breast Neoplasms - mortality
Breast Neoplasms - pathology
Classification
Disease-Free Survival
Estrogens
Female
Humans
Medical prognosis
Metastasis
Middle Aged
Multivariate analysis
Neoplasm Metastasis
Neoplastic Cells, Circulating - metabolism
Neoplastic Cells, Circulating - pathology
Patients
Prognosis
Receptor, ErbB-2 - genetics
Receptor, ErbB-2 - metabolism
Retrospective Studies
Survival analysis
Tumors
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality in women globally. Despite advancements in systemic therapy, the risk of distant recurrence persists even after such treatment and may be linked to disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). Variability in molecular characteristics between primary tumors (PTs) and distant metastases underscores the need to comprehensively understand metastatic pathways. This retrospective study investigated discrepancies between HER2 expression in PTs and DTCs and their implications for survival outcomes in 201 early breast cancer (EBC) patients. We found a significant association between HER2 expression in PTs and DTCs when classifying tumors as HER2-high/low/negative. Patients whose HER2 status was discordant between PTs and DTCs exhibited worse distant disease-free survival than those with concordant status. Multivariate analysis confirmed the HER2 status of DTCs as an independent prognostic factor for distant DFS. These findings emphasize the importance of assessing HER2 expression in DTCs and its potential implications for tailored therapy strategies in EBC. Furthermore, prospective trials are needed to validate these findings and explore targeted therapies based on the molecular characteristics of DTCs.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms25115910