This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
70-gene signature predicted locoregional breast cancer recurrence
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The 70-gene signature predicted risk for ipsilateral locoregional recurrence in patients with breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving therapy or mastectomy, according to study results presented at the European Cancer Congress.
Researchers evaluated data from 1,053 women with breast cancer who were treated at the Netherlands Cancer Institute between 1984 and 2006. All women had undergone prior treatment with radiation therapy, chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy.
The 70-gene signature (MammaPrint, Agendia BV) determined 492 patients were at high risk for locoregional recurrence and 561 were at low risk.
After a median follow-up of 8.91 years, researchers identified 89 instances of locoregional recurrence.
Patients classified in the high-risk group had a significantly increased risk for locoregional recurrence compared with those classified as low risk (P<.001). The assay also was predictive of locoregional recurrence when comparing patients who underwent breast-conserving therapy vs. mastectomy (P=.002).
When researchers stratified patients according to nodal status, the assay appeared predictive in lymph node negative-patients who underwent breast conserving therapy (P=.006) and lymph node positive-patients who underwent mastectomy (P<.001).
Results were not statistically significant with regard to lymph node-positive patients who received breast-conserving treatment and lymph node-negative patients who underwent mastectomy.
Overall, researchers determined gene signature-predicted high-risk status (P=.021), lack of adjuvant chemotherapy (P=.032) and young age (P<.001) were predictors of locoregional recurrence.
“Patients with 70-gene signature high-risk breast cancers may benefit from more extensive adjuvant treatment to reduce the risk for locoregional recurrence, while patients with 70-gene signature low-risk breast cancers may benefit from more limited treatment strategies,” the researchers concluded.
For more information:
Nijenhuis MV. Abstract #1855. Presented at: The European Cancer Congress 2013. Sept. 27 – Oct. 2, 2013; Amsterdam.
Disclosure: The researchers report advisory board roles with or stock ownership in Agendia NV. One researcher invented the 70-gene signature and was a co-founder of Agendia NV.