Authors: Mark N Jabbour Cleo Y Massad Fouad I Boulos
Publish Date: 2012/04/08
Volume: 135, Issue: 1, Pages: 29-37
Abstract
The introduction of selective molecular targeted therapy specifically tamoxifen and trastuzumab has significantly altered the clinical behavior of breast carcinoma Several questions remain however regarding potential phenotypic drifts in estrogen receptor ER progesterone receptor PR and epidermal growth factor receptor Her2/neu expression between the primary and metastatic site Whether patients should be tested for ER PR and Her2/neu expression in the nodal or distant metastatic site local recurrence and following neoadjuvant therapy and whether this has an effect on prognosis remains elusive A review of 45 studies addressing ER PR and Her2/neu expression in lymph node metastasis distant metastasis local recurrence and postneoadjuvant therapy revealed the following average phenotypic drift in ER PR and Her2/neu expression respectively 131 median = 100 138 median = 160 and 77 median = 50 for lymph node metastasis 218 median = 195 308 median = 335 and 76 median = 61 for distant metastasis 198 median = 134 271 median = 286 and 66 median = 16 for local recurrence and 129 median = 80 320 median = 200 and 89 median = 0 postneoadjuvant therapy The above findings support the notion of reevaluating ER PR and Her2/neu expression in distant metastasis lymph node metastasis and to a lesser extent local recurrence The effects of neoadjuvant therapy on receptor expression are more pronounced for PR which may have a prognostic role in therapy efficacy
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