Basal-like phenotype is not associated with patient survival in estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancers

2007

Basal-like breast cancers and patient survival

Sample size: 445 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Mervi Jumppanen, Sofia Gruvberger-Saal, Päivikki Kauraniemi, Minna Tanner, Pär-Ola Bendahl, Mikael Lundin, Morten Krogh, Pasi Kataja, Åke Borg, Mårten Fernö, Jorma Isola

Primary Institution: Lund University

Hypothesis

Is the basal-like phenotype associated with patient survival in estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancers?

Conclusion

Basal cytokeratin-positive tumors have a distinct gene expression profile but show similar clinical outcomes to non-basal ER-negative tumors.

Supporting Evidence

Basal cytokeratin expression predicts early relapse among non-selected tumors.
CK5/14-positive tumors showed adverse distant disease-free survival during the first years.
Within the ER-negative tumor entity, there was no survival difference between basal and non-basal tumors.

Takeaway

Some breast cancers have a special type called basal-like, but having this type doesn't mean patients will live shorter lives than those with other types.

Methodology

Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate CK5/14 status in 445 stage II breast cancers, and gene expression was analyzed in a subset of 100 tumors using cDNA microarrays.