Breast Center, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People's Republic of China.
State Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine and Innovative Drug Development, Jiangsu Simcere Diagnostics Co., Ltd., Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
Oncologist. 2023 Dec 11;28(12):e1160-e1169. doi: 10.1093/oncolo/oyad159.
In recent years, breast cancer has become the most common cancer in the world, increasing women's health risks. Approximately 60% of breast cancers are categorized as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-low tumors. Recently, antibody-drug conjugates have been found to have positive anticancer efficacy in patients with HER2-low breast cancer, but more studies are required to comprehend their clinical and molecular characteristics.
In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the data of 165 early breast cancer patients with pT1-2N1M0 who had undergone the RecurIndex testing. To better understand HER2-low tumors, we investigated the RecurIndex genomic profiles, clinicopathologic features, and survival outcomes of breast cancers according to HER2 status.
First, there were significantly more hormone receptor (HR)-positive tumors, luminal-type tumors, and low Ki67 levels in the HER2-low than in the HER2-zero. Second, RI-LR (P = .0294) and RI-DR (P = .001) scores for HER2-low and HER2-zero were statistically significant. Third, within HER2-negative disease, HR-positive/HER2-low tumors showed highest ESR1, NFATC2IP, PTI1, ERBB2, and OBSL1 expressions. Fourth, results of the survival analysis showed that lower expression of HER2 was associated with improved relapse-free survival for HR-positive tumors, but not for HR-negative tumors.
The present study highlights the unique features of HER2-low tumors in terms of their clinical characteristics as well as their gene expression profiles. HR status may influence the prognosis of patients with HER2-low expression, and patients with HR-positive/HER2-low expression may have a favorable outcome.
近年来，乳腺癌已成为全球最常见的癌症，增加了女性的健康风险。约 60%的乳腺癌被归类为人表皮生长因子受体 2（HER2）低肿瘤。最近，抗体药物偶联物已被发现对 HER2 低乳腺癌患者具有积极的抗癌疗效，但需要更多的研究来了解其临床和分子特征。
本研究回顾性分析了 165 例接受 RecurIndex 检测的 pT1-2N1M0 早期乳腺癌患者的数据。为了更好地了解 HER2 低肿瘤，我们根据 HER2 状态研究了 RecurIndex 基因组谱、临床病理特征和乳腺癌的生存结局。
首先，HER2 低肿瘤中激素受体（HR）阳性肿瘤、管腔型肿瘤和低 Ki67 水平明显更多。其次，HER2 低和 HER2 零的 RI-LR（P =.0294）和 RI-DR（P =.001）评分具有统计学意义。第三，在 HER2 阴性疾病中，HR 阳性/HER2 低肿瘤显示出最高的 ESR1、NFATC2IP、PTI1、ERBB2 和 OBSL1 表达。第四，生存分析结果表明，HR 阳性肿瘤中 HER2 表达较低与无复发生存率的改善相关，但在 HR 阴性肿瘤中则不然。
本研究强调了 HER2 低肿瘤在临床特征及其基因表达谱方面的独特特征。HR 状态可能影响 HER2 低表达患者的预后，而 HR 阳性/HER2 低表达患者可能有良好的结局。
