The Effect of Hormone Receptor Status on Pathological Response after Preoperative Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background: The pathological complete response of preoperative therapy in breast cancer patients has been correlated with outcome and prognosis in terms of local and distant relapse. Response rates vary according to clinical and pathological prognostic factors of patients including hormone receptor status. This study was performed to assess response in terms of pathological response rates in relation to Estrogen and progesterone receptor status. Methods: This studyanalyzed99 female patients with non metastatic breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy +/- targeted therapy during the period of April 2007 to March 2014. Patients were treated at the university hospital of Saarland in Homburg, Germany. Records were reviewed and correlation of response to Estrogen (ER) and Progesterone (PR) status was done. Response was assessed and pathological complete response was defined as absence of invasive and in situ disease in breast and axilla. Results: Out of 99 patients, 29 (29.3%) patients achieved pathological complete response (pCR). Forty two percent of tumors with negative Estrogen receptor status achieved complete response, versus 18% of ER positive tumors which was found to be of statistical significance (P value 0.009). Similarly 42.6% of tumors with negative Progesterone receptors showed pCR versus only 10% of PR positive tumors which also showed high significance (P value 0.001). Conclusion: This study confirmed that high pCR rates are achievable in ER and PR negative disease using preoperative chemotherapy. It was concluded that each of the ER, PR status significantly impact pCR rates where ER, PR negative status achieve higher pCR rates.