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International Journal of Clinical Oncology

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10-04-2022 | Breast Cancer | Original Article

Estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-positive and her-2-negative breast cancer might no longer be classified as hormone receptor-positive breast cancer

Authors: Hongjuan Zheng, Chenyang Ge, Haiping Lin, Lunpo Wu, Qinghua Wang, Shishi Zhou, Wanfen Tang, Xia Zhang, Xiayun Jin, Xifeng Xu, Zhongwu Hong, Jianfei Fu, Jinlin Du

Published in: International Journal of Clinical Oncology | Issue 7/2022

Abstract

Background

The single progesterone receptor (PR)-positive phenotype (estrogen receptor (ER)-/PR + , sPR positive) is an infrequent and independent biological entity. However, the prognosis of patients with sPR-positive and her-2-negative phenotype is still controversial, and it is not always easy to decide treatment strategies for them.

Methods

Patients during 2010–2014 were identified from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to evaluate cancer-specific survival (CSS). The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to balance differences of characteristics in groups. The Life-Table method was used to calculate 5-year CSS rates and the annual hazard rate of death (HRD).

Results

A total of 97,527 patients were included, and only 745 (0.76%) patients were sPR-positive phenotype. The majority of sPR-positive breast cancer were basal-like subtype. Survival analysis showed that the sPR-positive breast cancer had similar prognosis comparing to double hormonal receptor-negative (ER-/PR-, dHoR-negative) breast cancer, and had the highest HRD during the initial 1–2 years of follow-up, then maintained the HRD of almost zero during the late years of follow-up.

Conclusions

The patients with sPR-positive and her-2-negative breast cancer, similar to dHoR-negative breast cancer, had a worse survival, and could benefit from chemotherapy significantly. However, the escalating endocrine therapy was not recommended for sPR-positive patients. The patients with sPR positive should be excluded from future clinical trials concerning endocrine therapy.

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Title: Estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-positive and her-2-negative breast cancer might no longer be classified as hormone receptor-positive breast cancer
Authors: Hongjuan Zheng
Chenyang Ge
Haiping Lin
Lunpo Wu
Qinghua Wang
Shishi Zhou
Wanfen Tang
Xia Zhang
Xiayun Jin
Xifeng Xu
Zhongwu Hong
Jianfei Fu
Jinlin Du
Publication date: 10-04-2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore
Keywords: Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer
Cytostatic Therapy
Estrogens
Progesterone
Published in: International Journal of Clinical Oncology / Issue 7/2022
Print ISSN: 1341-9625
Electronic ISSN: 1437-7772
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-022-02158-0

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