PROGNOSTIC ROLE OF RESIDUAL TUMOR FEATURES IN HER2-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER

The aim of the study was to examine the prognostic value of immunobiological markers (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and their subpopulations) in residual tumor after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) completion in patients with triple negative (TNBC) and luminal B HER2-neu negative breast cancer (LBBC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The analysis of the treatment results of 59 patients with TNBC and 56 patients with LBBC with stage IIB-IIIB who received NACT was performed. The levels of TILs and their subpopulations (FOXP3+, CD4+, CD8+) in patients at the time of diagnosis in core-needle biopsy material and in residual tumor in postoperative material were studied by immunohistochemical method.

RESULTS

The risk of recurrence in patients with LBBC who received NACT before surgery is associated mainly with 4 factors: FOXP3+ lymphocytes, Ki-67 index in residual tumor, the number of affected axillary lymph nodes after NACT and viable residual tumor volume. Analysis of the treatment outcome in patients with TNBC revealed that the lack of pathologic complete response (pCR) after NACT increases the risk of disease recurrence by 2.9 times, hazard ratio (HR) = 2.9 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4-6.1; p = 0.005) compared with patients in which pCR was achieved after NACT. It was also found that the presence of residual tumor in patients with TNBC after NACT increases the risk of death from this disease by 2.7 times (95% CI 1.0-7.1; p = 0.05). Increased intratumoral and stromal CD8+ lymphocyte counts in the residual tumor after NACT significantly reduces the risk of death from TNBC, HR = 0.6 (95% CI 0.5-0.9; p = 0.01) and HR = 0.6 (95% CI 0.4-0.9; p = 0.008), respectively. Increase in intratumoral CD4+ lymphocytes in residual tumor in the non-pCR group reduces by half the risk of death from TNBC, HR = 0.5 (95% CI 0.3-1.0; p = 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The results of our study indicate a favorable prognostic value of TILS in residual tumor in TNBC. It is also reasonable to include the determination of the level of FOXP3+ lymphocytes in the residual tumor in the standard algorithms for stratification of risk groups.

Prognostic role of androgen receptor expression in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer

At present, there are no valid prognostic biomarkers in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) except well known clinical factors such as tumor size, lymph node status, differentiation grade and proliferation rate.

AIM

To evaluate the prognostic role of androgen receptor (AR) expression in patients with TNBC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The effect of the AR expression level in tumor tissue on overall survival depending on clinical, histological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the tumor was evaluated in 116 patients with metastatic TNBC.

RESULTS

The independent prognostic value of AR expression in patients with TNBC of different stages was shown. The median overall survival was higher in patients with AR-positive tumors compared with AR-negative tumors (57 months vs 27 months, p < 0.0001). Five-year survival since diagnosis in the group with AR-positive TNBC was 47.6 ± 8.3% vs 20.0 ± 5.3% in the group with AR-negative TNBC (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of our study indicate a favorable impact of AR expression on the overall survival of TNBC patients.