Dataset Information

Clinical and Demographic Factors, Treatment Patterns, and Overall Survival Associated With Rare Triple-Negative Breast Carcinomas in the US.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Triple-negative breast cancers are known collectively to demonstrate a more aggressive clinical course and earlier recurrence than cancers of other histological subtypes. However, the literature on rare triple-negative breast cancers and the association of histological type with survival and risk of metastasis is sparse.

Objective

To present the clinical and demographic characteristics, treatment patterns, and overall survival (OS) for histologically rare (<10% of breast cancers) triple-negative breast cancer types: medullary carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and metaplastic breast carcinoma.

Design, setting, and participants

This cohort study was performed in the US using data reported by the National Cancer Database between 2010 and 2016. Confirmed cases of medullary carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and metaplastic breast cancer were analyzed. Univariable analyses and multivariable Cox regression models were performed. Data analysis was performed from April to May 2020.

Main outcomes and measures

The primary outcome was 5-year OS. Secondary outcomes included site of metastasis, effect of immunohistochemistry, management, and 2-year mortality.

Results

A total of 8479 patients with breast cancer (mean [SD] age; 62.6 [14.3] years; 8435 women [99.48%]) were analyzed. Metaplastic carcinoma was the most commonly diagnosed histological type in this cohort, with 6867 patients (81%), followed by 1357 (16%) with adenoid cystic carcinoma and only 255 (3%) with medullary carcinoma. Medullary carcinoma presented earlier in life, at a median (interquartile range) age of 53 (45-62) years, compared with 62 (53-72) years for patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma and 63 (52-74) years for patients with metaplastic carcinoma. The proportion of tumors with triple-negative immunohistochemistry varied by histological type for medullary carcinoma (57 patients [22.4%]), adenoid cystic carcinoma (653 patients [48.1%]), and metaplastic carcinoma (3637 patients [53.0%]). Patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma were less likely to receive radiotherapy (711 patients [52.4%]) and chemotherapy (175 patients [12.9%]) compared with patients with medullary carcinoma (radiotherapy, 156 patients [61.2%]; chemotherapy, 190 patients [74.5%]) and metaplastic carcinoma (radiotherapy, 3416 patients [49.7%]; chemotherapy, 4709 patients [68.6%]). The 5-year OS rate was superior for patients with medullary (91.7%) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (88.4%) compared with patients with metaplastic carcinoma (63.1%). The 5-year mortality rate for adenoid cystic carcinoma was 8.33% vs 36.91% for metaplastic carcinoma.

Conclusions and relevance

Nationally, over the course of 7 years, medullary carcinoma was most common and metaplastic carcinoma had the worst 5-year OS among the rare histological breast cancer subtypes analyzed. Factors associated with a poor prognosis for metaplastic carcinoma included advanced stage, lung metastasis, older age, and not receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Future research focusing on rare subtypes of breast cancer is desirable and could inform the optimal management of these relatively understudied carcinomas.

SUBMITTER: Elimimian EB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8042532 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundTriple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer with aggressive tumor behavior and distinct disease etiology. Due to the lack of an effective targeted medicine, treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer are few and recurrence rates are high. Although various multi-gene prognostic markers have been proposed for the prediction of breast cancer outcome, most of them were proven clinically useful only for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers. Reliable identification of triple-negative patients with a favorable prognosis is not yet possible.Methodology/principal findingsClinicopathological information and microarray data from 157 invasive breast carcinomas were collected at National Taiwan University Hospital from 1995 to 2008. Gene expression data of 51 triple-negative and 106 luminal breast cancers were generated by oligonucleotide microarrays. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that the majority (94%) of triple-negative breast cancers were tightly clustered together carrying strong basal-like characteristics. A 45-gene prognostic signature giving 98% predictive accuracy in distant recurrence of our triple-negative patients was determined using the receiver operating characteristic analysis and leave-one-out cross validation. External validation of the prognostic signature in an independent microarray dataset of 59 early-stage triple-negative patients also obtained statistical significance (hazard ratio 2.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-5.06, Cox P=0.04), outperforming five other published breast cancer prognostic signatures. The 45-gene signature identified in this study revealed that TGF-? signaling of immune/inflammatory regulation may play an important role in distant metastatic invasion of triple-negative breast cancer.Conclusions/significanceGene expression data and recurrence information of triple-negative breast cancer were collected and analyzed in this study. A novel set of 45-gene signature was found to be statistically predictive in disease recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer. The 45-gene signature, if further validated, may be a clinically useful tool in risk assessment of distant recurrence for early-stage triple-negative patients.