Co-expression of steroid hormone receptors (estrogen receptor α andor progesterone receptors) and H.docVIP

Co-expression of steroid hormone receptors (estrogen receptor α and/or progesterone receptors) and Her2/neu (c-erbB-2) in breast cancer: Clinical outcome following tamoxifen-based adjuvant therapy Francisco E. Gagoa, Mariel A. Fanellib and Daniel R. Cioccab, , aGynecology Department, Medical School, National University of Cuyo, Parque Gral, San Martín, 5500 Mendoza, Argentina bLaboratory of Oncology, Institute of Experimental Medicine and Biology of Cuyo, National Research Council (IMBECU-CONICET) and Argentine Foundation for Cancer Research, Casilla de Correo, 855-5000 Mendoza, Argentina The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Volume 98, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 36-40 Abstract In breast cancer patients, the expression of steroid hormone receptors (HR:ERα/PR) appears inversely correlated with Her2/neu (not all reports agree on this negative correlation). Moreover, some but not all studies suggest that HR+/Her2/neu+ patients have a poor response to endocrine therapy, making this special group a matter of debate. In this prospective study we have analyzed the clinical outcome of our HR+/Her2/neu+ patients (n?=?51) selected from 516 consecutive stages I–II cases, with a follow-up 5–10 years (mean 7.3), treated with standard adjuvant therapy with tamoxifen (TAM) (TAM alone or TAM after chemotherapy). This group was compared with the HR+/Her-2/neu? patients (n?=?129) treated also with TAM. The tumor biopsies were studied by immunohistochemistry. We found that the association HR+/Her2/neu? was 2.5 times higher than the association HR+/Her2/neu+ (25% versus 9.9%, respectively). Our study also showed that the disease free survival (DFS) of the patients co-expressing HR and Her2/neu was significantly lower than those expressing HR but lacking of Her2/neu (p??0.001). A similar result was obtained when the overall survival (OS) was evaluated (p?=?0.001). All of these patients received hormone therapy with TAM, alone or after chemotherapy. When the anal