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Should Local Therapy for Invasive Breast Cancer Be Customized on the Basis of Subtype?

  • Local-Regional Evaluation and Therapy (KK Hunt, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Breast Cancer Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Microarray analyses have identified intrinsic breast cancer subtypes with distinct gene expression profiles. These subtypes can be approximated by immunohistochemical analysis of markers routinely available in pathology reports, in particular hormone receptors (HR) and HER2. These approximated subtypes can be used to stratify patients with regard to long-term recurrence-free and breast cancer-specific survival, and local-regional recurrence (LRR)-free survival. Patients who are HR−/HER2− have the highest risk of LRR; however, there are no data supporting more aggressive local-regional treatment with surgery or radiation to reduce that risk for this group. It is possible that local-regional therapy could be limited for patients with more favorable subtypes (HR+/HER2−); however, more data are needed to support this strategy.

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Conflict of Interest

Abigail S. Caudle declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Welela Tereffe declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler St, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Abigail S. Caudle & Elizabeth A. Mittendorf

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Welela Tereffe

Authors
  1. Abigail S. Caudle
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  2. Welela Tereffe
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  3. Elizabeth A. Mittendorf
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Correspondence to Elizabeth A. Mittendorf.

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Caudle, A.S., Tereffe, W. & Mittendorf, E.A. Should Local Therapy for Invasive Breast Cancer Be Customized on the Basis of Subtype?. Curr Breast Cancer Rep 5, 145–151 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-013-0103-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-013-0103-2

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