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ER, PgR, HER-2, Ki-67, topoisomerase IIα, and nm23-H1 proteins expression as predictors of pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the importance of biological markers to predict pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) One hundred and twelve consecutive patients with clinical stage III LABC who had received NCT with docetaxel and epirubicin from March 2006 to March 2009 were included in this retrospective study. The pre-NCT treatment expression levels of Ki-67 proliferation index, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), Topoisomerase II alpha (Topo-II), and nm23-H1 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). A total of 361 cycles were administered with the median number of three cycles per patient (range, 2–6). The pCR rate was 9.8% (95% CI, 4.3–15.3%). In univariate analysis, poor tumor differentiation, both negative of ER/PgR, negative Topo-II, and positive nm23-H1 were found to be significantly predictive of a pCR. ER/PgR status and nm23-H1 were significant for pCR on multivariate analysis (P = 0.006 and 0.025, respectively). ER/PgR status and nm23-H1 are independent predictive factors of pCR to neoadjuvant docetaxel plus epirubicin combination chemotherapy in patients with LABC.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported in part by Chinese Army Medical Research Fund (06MA245).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no commercial, proprietary, or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Breast Surgery, Department of General Surgery, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, No. 28, Fuxing Rd, 100853, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Xi-ru Li, Yan-jun Zhang, Jian-dong Wang, Yi-qiong Zheng, Jie Li & Bing Ma

  2. Department of Pathology, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing, China

    Mei Liu & Xin Song

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  1. Xi-ru Li
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Correspondence to Xi-ru Li.

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Xi-ru Li, Mei Liu contributed equally to this article.

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Li, Xr., Liu, M., Zhang, Yj. et al. ER, PgR, HER-2, Ki-67, topoisomerase IIα, and nm23-H1 proteins expression as predictors of pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer. Med Oncol 28 (Suppl 1), 48–54 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-010-9693-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-010-9693-y

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