Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Fig. 1.
Survival curves of patients with primary breast cancer. Kaplan-Meier estimates for disease-free (A) and overall survival (B) with respect to presence and frequency of circulating HER2-positive tumor cells in the peripheral blood. The black dashed line represent patients in whom no HER2-positive tumor cell was detected. The gray curve shows survival of patients with circulating HER2-positive tumor cells.
Tables
- Table 1.
Characteristics of patients examined for HER2-positive CTCs
Clinicopathologic variables n (%) Tumor stage* pT1 19 (55.9) pT2 9 (26.5) pT3 3 (8.8) pT4 3 (8.8) Lymph nodes* N0 25 (75.8) N+ 8 (24.2) Histologic grade G1 4 (11.8) G2 17 (50) G3 13 (38.2) Tumor type Ductal 22 (62.9) Lobular 9 (25.7) Tubular 3 (8.6) Medullary 1 (2.9) ↵* Information on pT stage was available in 34 of 35 patients (97.1%) and information on pN stage was available in 33 of 35 (94.3%) patients.
- Table 2.
Identification and number of HER2-positive CTCs in stage I to III primary breast cancer patients (n = 35) and primary metastatic patients (M+, n = 7) as positive controls
No. per sample Patients (%) Stage I-III patients 0 18 (51.4) 1 4 (11.4) 2 2 (5.7) 3 3 (8.6) 4 3 (8.6) 7 1 (2.9) 8 4 (11.4) 0 18 (51.4) 1-4 12 (34.3) ≥5 5 (14.3) No 18 (51.4) Yes 17 (48.6) M+ patients (positive controls) 3-50 7 (100) - Table 3.
Correlation between presence of circulating HER2-positive tumor cells and clinicopathologic variables in primary breast cancer patients (n = 35)
Clinicopathologic variables Patients with HER2-positive CTCs, n/total (%) P* pT stage pT2 11/29 (37.9) 0.006 pT3 6/6 (100) Lymph node status Negative 10/25 (40) NS Positive 5/8 (62.5) Histologic grading I 0/4 (0) 0.033 II-III 17/30 (56.7) ER status Positive 6/18 (33.3) 0.039 Negative 11/16 (68.7) PR status Positive 8/20 (40) NS Negative 9/14 (64.3) HER2 status Negative 12/24 (50) NS Positive 2/3 (66.7) EGFR status Negative 2/3 (14.3) NS Positive 12/24 (50) MIB-1 labeling index 20% 8/19 (42.1) NS >20% 8/12 (66.7) bcl-2 status Negative 6/6 (100) NS Positive 7/13 (53.8) p53 mutation No 10/17 (58.8) NS Yes 4/7 (71.4) NOTE: Staining was evaluable for HER2 and EGFR in 27 (77.1%), for Ki-67(MIB-1 labeling index) in 31 (88.6%), for bcl-2 in 25 (71.4%), and for p53 in 24 (68.6%) of 35 patients with primary breast cancer.
Abbreviation: NS, not significant.
↵* χ2 test.
- Table 4.
Disease-free and overall survival in relationship to the detection of circulating HER2-positive tumor cells
HER2-positive CTCs n Disease-free survival, mo (95% confidence interval) P* Overall survival, mo (95% confidence interval) P* No 18 124 ± 7 (110-139) 0.007 125 ± 7 (110-139) 0.024 Yes 17 60 ± 11 (38-83) 89 ± 15 (60-117) 0 18 124 ± 7 (110-139) 0.003 125 ± 7 (110-139) 0.021 1-4 12 72 ± 13 (46-97) 80 ± 12 (57-103) ≥5 5 32 ± 16 (1-62) 61 ± 29 (4-118) ↵* Log-rank test.
Volume 12, Issue 6
