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Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 2/2016

Open Access 01-11-2016 | Preclinical Study

A prospective study to assess the clinical utility of serum HER2 extracellular domain in breast cancer with HER2 overexpression

Authors: Nathalie Reix, Charlotte Malina, Marie-Pierre Chenard, Jean-Pierre Bellocq, Stéphanie Delpous, Sébastien Molière, Anthony Sevrin, Karl Neuberger, Catherine Tomasetto, Carole Mathelin

Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment | Issue 2/2016

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Abstract

Purpose

We explored the clinical utility of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 extracellular domain (HER2/ECD) in patients treated for an invasive breast cancer with HER2 overexpression.

Methods

We prospectively studied HER2/ECD levels in the sera of 334 women included between 2007 and 2014, all treated with trastuzumab. HER2/ECD levels were measured at diagnosis, during treatments, and along the follow-up. We investigated the relationship of HER2/ECD with other clinicopathological parameters at diagnosis, its prognosis value, and its utility during the monitoring of a neoadjuvant treatment and the follow-up.

Results

Elevated HER2/ECD at diagnosis correlated positively with parameters associated with tumor aggressiveness. Disease-free survival of non-metastatic patients was significantly shorter in patients with high HER2/ECD at diagnosis (HR = 13.6, 95 % CI 1.6–113.6, P < 0.0001). Progression-free survival of metastatic patients was better for patients with low HER2/ECD (HR = 2.6, 95 % CI 1.2–5.3, P = 0.033). A multivariate analysis revealed that HER2/ECD level at diagnosis was an independent prognosis factor. During neoadjuvant therapy, a significant decrease in HER2/ECD was reported only for the complete histological response group (P = 0.031). During the follow-up, HER2/ECD helped predict relapse, disease progression, and metastases before imaging in 18.6 % cases of the studied cohort.

Conclusions

HER2/ECD is a prognosis factor that is valuable in evaluating the neoadjuvant treatment efficiency. HER2/ECD also appears to be a helpful surveillance biomarker for the early diagnosis of relapses and to predict the fate of metastases. This study brings evidences to support the use of HER2/ECD in the management of HER2-positive breast cancer.
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Metadata
Title
A prospective study to assess the clinical utility of serum HER2 extracellular domain in breast cancer with HER2 overexpression
Authors
Nathalie Reix
Charlotte Malina
Marie-Pierre Chenard
Jean-Pierre Bellocq
Stéphanie Delpous
Sébastien Molière
Anthony Sevrin
Karl Neuberger
Catherine Tomasetto
Carole Mathelin
Publication date
01-11-2016
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment / Issue 2/2016
Print ISSN: 0167-6806
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7217
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-4000-z

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